Flames of War
by ICHeart
Summary: The USF...founded in the ashes of the Great War has spent years rebuilding. They are inheritors of the Forerunners and are ready to take hold of the Mantel...but first they have to deal with another Galactic Superpower. However, dark forces gather as these two groups fight to gain control of the Galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

Well here we are the first chapter of my Halo/Mass Effect crossover! Now I want you all to know that I won't be giving out a million details at the start of every chapter like many other people do. Also, I have never owned a Halo game, but I have beaten every single one of them and love them very much!

Now the synopsis for this story is that it starts eight years of the Human/Covenant War and peace has been achieved between the Separatist and Human nations, but animosity has remained. However, both species are working towards the future by establishing the United Species Federation. The USF is the combined efforts of mostly the human and Sangheili militaries forming a council to safeguard their species and allies from any other hostile force that may be out there like the Flood. This was achieved mostly from the Arbiter having sworn to defend Humanity no matter what in the future for their follies during the war.

Despite being founded by both the Humans and Sangheili the USF doesn't discriminate against the other species of the galaxy and offers full membership status and the Mgalekgolo, Yanme'e, and Unngoy have all become major players. However, the Sangheili, Mgalekgolo, Yanme'e, and Unngoy formed their own nation soon after the Loyalist Fleets were defeated 4 years ago named the New Covenant Alliance. Despite being part of the same government all species have an equal say in the USF

The main points of the USF is the combination of men, planets, technology, and resources between all of its species. When combined the fleets of every species together present a force able to overcome any known enemy in combat.

On a sour note though Spartan-117 or Master Chief John-117 has yet to be located by the USF despite ongoing efforts to locate the Hero of the Human/Covenant War. To many John-117 is the epitome of humanity's will to survive and their strength of character and in his honor the Spartan IV program is restarted with improved augmentations that have high survivability ratings and anyone of any age can join.

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Despite the USF not knowing the location of John-117 didn't mean he wasn't working on a way to get home. Cortana and John crashed landed on an unknown planet seven years after the destruction of the Arc. It was there that they discovered an ancient Forerunner Military base still being run by it's sentinels.

Luckily for John and Cortana the sentinels registered John as a Reclaimer and quickly started to repair and upgrade the Forward Unto Dawn. It took almost a whole year for the whole ship to be repaired and upgraded with Forerunner technology and John was more than impressed with the new ship.

The Forward Unto Dawn now stood at a length of 1.3 Kilometers, nearly tripling the original size and it received an additional upgraded MAC that took less time to fire and increased damage output by 50%. The Old MAC was replaced by a new one too so it now had two MAC's at the bow of the ship.

The Forerunner Sentinels also decided to upgrade and replace many of the older weapons on the ships. The old missile systems were replaced with HYDRA launchers. The HYDRA missiles are pure energy missiles that break up into hundreds of smaller missiles that would decimate shields and the armor of ships and upgraded damage output by 300% compared to previous models.

Point defense weapons were upgraded to Forerunner Light based weaponry giving them a massive increase in damage output and making them capable of anti-ship combat instead of only being limited to anti-fighter capabilities. The number also increased from 12 to 30.

Railguns and Laser Cannons provided the main anti-fighter protection and were much more capable with Cortana operating them in combat.

The hull and shields of the Forward Unto Dawn were also upgraded greatly. The Hull was replaced with an alloy, that the Forerunners had only just finished before the firing of the Halo Rings that could easily shrug off all but the most powerful weapons known to the UNSC and Forerunners. The shields were retrofitted and upgraded to increase power by over 500%.

The Slipspace engine was also replaced with a Forerunner drive capable of traveling over 1800 light-years in only 24 hours! Compensating for this the engine was also replaced with a Forerunner fusion reactor capable of generating around an 1000% increase.

With the upgrades on the ship John theorized that the Forward Unto Dawn could perhaps even go toe to toe with a smaller Covenant Fleet as long as there were only one or two capital ships in the fleet.

The Forward Unto Dawn wasn't the only thing to get upgrades Cortana was upgraded to be able to process greater amounts of information and Forerunner upgrades prevented her from becoming Rampant. Johns Weapons and armor were also upgraded.

His armor was upgraded to be able to carry multiple kits such as the bubble shield, jet pack, invisibility, and few extras such as energy blades that came out of the wrists. The shielding increased by 250% and the armor itself could easily stop all but the strongest small arms fire.

Along with his armor he received Forerunner light weapons such as the Z-130 Suppressor, Z-250 Light Rifle, and Z-750 Special Application Sniper Rifle. Each one was energy fed so required no ammo, but plasma clips were needed to keep the batteries working after a while of shooting.

After a year on the planet the Forward Unto Dawn was prepped and ready for travel back to Human Space. They had only one planet programmed into the computer…it's name was Harvest.

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"Chief? Are you sure that Harvest is the only planet we will be able to reach?" asked Cortana as she stared at John as he quickly worked at the controls of the Forward Unto Dawn.

"It is time that I returned Cortana. I have been gone for eight years now and there is no telling what has happened in those eight years. Harvest was the extent of human expansion before the Covenant arrived so I'm guessing that there has to be something there that we can use." Responded John.

"That's true…but why leave now? Why not stay and learn everything we can about this facility?" asked Cortana as John typed in several coordinates for the Slipspace drive.

"We have already detected Flood in the facility. If we don't destroy the facility then there is a chance they can escape. Now are you done with all the calculations that we need?" he asked as his attention was attracted to a Monitor floating in the room.

"Correct! The Reclaimer has made good arguments that the destruction of this facility is what my masters would have wanted!" stated the Monitor, 145 Alpha Bolt in a metallic voice.

"Is the warhead ready to detonate?" asked John as the Monitor seemed to run a few calculations.

"Indeed! As soon as you are ready we can proceed to destroy the base." Answered the Monitor as John nodded and looked at the form of Cortona.

"Is everything ready?" he asked.

"We are ready John. It will take about a week for us to reach Harvest with our new Slipspace drive. I suggest you enter cryo and wait till the 6th day to wake again. I will watch the ship and wake you if you are needed before then." She stated as John nodded and walked out of the bridge.

"Execute the destruction of the base and enter Slipspace." He ordered as Cortona nodded and Alpha Bolt nodded their consent.

John watched through a viewport the destruction of the facility and sighed in anticipation for what was to come. He may be a soldier, but that didn't mean he wasn't human. He missed his home and missed his other fellow Spartans and for all he knew there possibly wasn't any Earth left!

He made his way to the Cryo Chamber and quickly entered into the predesignated chamber for him and watched as the doors closed. "Okay Chief…initiating cryo sleep in 3…2…1…and mark!" with that all went black for the Spartan and he waited to be awoken once again.

Little did he know that he had just left one war only to enter upon another…

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Swish…swish…swhish…Brrp…ssssh! Bullets and explosions echoed across the battlefield as a lone ODST soldier ducked behind a large pillar made from the debris of a fallen building destroyed through orbital strikes.

"This is Sgt. Richards requesting fire support at coordinates Echo Tango 85678123. Unknown hostiles are advancing on my squads position slowly, but steadily. We are at risk of being overrun by hostiles!" yelled Sgt. Richards as he fired his submachine gun at a group of aliens that had made a break for cover.

A shot rang out as one of his squad fired a sniper rifle with precision to decimate a lone enemy contact. It had been like this for the past 36 hours as these unknown hostiles had suddenly appeared out of nowhere right over Harvest.

It had all been so fast and the small fleet consisting of a Halcyon Light-Cruiser and three Charon-Classs Frigates was caught with there hands down their pants as a fleet of some 22 ships appeared 5,000 Kilometers away from Harvest.

Luckily the four ships defending Harvest hadn't died for nothing in the end. Their sacrifice gave the defenders of Harvest ample time to prepare for the enemy land forces. AI's aboard the ships were able to hack the enemy computers in record time and siphoned off massive amounts of information on their attackers. They were also able to defeat eight of the enemy ships and send out a distress signal to the nearest USF fleet.

They were apparently part of a species known as Batarians and they had come to the system from an unknown form of travel known as a Mass Relay. The Mass Relay that was used was currently hidden inside a massive asteroid that orbited the solar systems sun. It basically allowed instant transport to any part of the universe in just a few seconds.

However, all that technical bull shit mattered very little to the Sgt. What did matter though was the reasons why these Batarians were attacking Harvest. It was to capture a large percentage of the population and sell them in a slave trade sanctioned by their government known as the Batarian Hegemony.

"This is Eagle 9-1! Take cover we are about to drop our payload!" came a voice of a pilot of one of the UNSC Long Sword fighters.

"Get down men!" yelled the Sgt. As his men all dropped behind cover as a whirl of the fighter flew over them followed by a large explosion that decimated the attacking Batarian soldiers.

"Sgt.! How long are we supposed to hold out like this! We are running low on ammo!" yelled one of his men as the Sgt. Looked over who was left of the ODST platoon he had been commanding ever his is LT had been killed in the initial landing by the Batarians.

"Last I heard the nearest fleet was two days away! We have hold out until then no matter the cost! The Batarians…" he said with obvious disgust. "wish to enslave our people and kill everyone else! We cannon allow this to happen! Harvest has already fallen once due to aliens, not lets make sure it doesn't fall again!" the Sgt declared as his men nodded in determination.

"**This is Colonel Williams to all ground forces currently stationed in Hope! A second wave of enemy forces are landing as we speak to finish us off! All units are to move to fall back locations and hold at any cost…we have to hold men…not for ourselves, but for the ones that depend on us. Colonel Williams out!"** came the order from the leader of the forces on Harvest.

"You all heard the Colonel we move out now!" yelled the Sgt as his remaining 25 men all began to fall back to the center of the city to the main defense line. There they would be able to receive much more support from aircraft and vehicles due to the smaller amount of space they needed to defend, but once there they would have no where else to retreat to.

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"Colonel Willams! The USF has sent the Third Expeditionary Fleet to help repel these Batarians and once they are cleared of our atmosphere they will be sent through the relay to secure the other line while the USF gathers a large fleet to attack this Hegemony and to ensure that this Citadel Council doesn't interfere. Sir!" reported an officer as Williams looked at his datapad detailing the battle currently taking place in the city of Hope, Harvest's largest city.

"It's a good thing that our AI's were able to easily infiltrate the enemy networks and extract this information. If we had attacked without this knowledge we could've started another war similar to the one with the Covenant." Stated the Colonel as he watched another wave of Batarians land on the planet and assault his forces once more.

"Can we hold out sir? They outnumber us by quite a large number and they have fleet support. What chances do we have against that?" asked the officer with fear in voice.

"You insult us as a species. We have survived against worst odds before and we will continue to survive. These Batarians haven't got a clue to what they decided to wake." Said the Colonel with conviction as the officer nodded with a slight smile as he went back to one of the command center's terminals.

"Sir! We have a ship exiting slipspace!" yelled an ensign at one of the consuls.

"Whom does it belong to? Did the Batarians receive reinforcements?" asked Col. Williams as the Ensign began to work at the consel.

"Acquiring signature…oh my god!" he yelled in surprise.

"What is it Ensign?" asked the Colonel with suspicion.

"Sir…the ship…it's the…"

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"Chief we are picking up a distress signal coming from Harvest." Stated Cortona as she appeared on the holovid in his Armor.

"I'm on my way to the bridge now Cortana…how long until we exit slipspace?" asked John as he opened the door to the bridge to see a video being played on a screen.

"This is Colonel Williams of the Harvest defense forces! We have come under assault by a previously unknown species. AI's have been able to steal massive amounts of information from them and we have identified them as being Batarians. If there are any fleets out there we need help now!" begged the Colonel as the video shut off.

"How long until we reach the system Cortana?" asked the Chief again.

"We will reach Harvest in 45 minutes Chief…I suggest you suit up. I will be able to handle all space combat while you go to the ground to help there." Said Cortana as John wasted no time in moving to the ships armory to suit up.

45 minutes later

"I will punch a hole through their defenses, then when we are over the city of Hope I will drop you down to the surface of the planet while I continue to engage the enemy targets." Stated Cortana right as the ship exited Slipspace.

"Enemy strength is at 14 ships with 2 cruisers, 6 destroyers, and 6 frigates. I have already hacked the enemy ships and I deploying counter measures!" Cortana stated as John watched the enemy fleet turn to face him.

"Chief…we have a message from the surface."

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"…Forward Unto Dawn." Finished the Ensign as the entire command center shut up instantly at the mention of the legendary ship that was said to be carrying humanities greatest hero into space.

"How is that possible?" asked the Colonel with a slight stutter as he too was surprised at this announcement.

"I don't know sir…but it is much bigger than the old Forward Unto Dawn. It is about the size of a Cruiser and it's power output is off the charts! Not even a Covenant Assault Carrier generates this much power.

"That's impossible! Patch me a link to that ship now!" stated the Colonel as Ensign began to broadcast to the ship.

"This is Colonel Williams of the planet Harvest! Identify yourself at once…you are impersonating a ship that was destroyed just over 8 years ago." He said with as much authority as possible. Why he spoke many people were looking at the holopad to see who would respond to the Colonel.

Many gasped when a figure appeared on the pad, he was wearing the MJOLNIR armor. "Colonel Williams Sir! Spartan Sierra-117 reporting for duty sir!" stated the Spartan professionally to the shock of the Colonel.

"But how?" he asked meekly.

"That isn't important now Sir! The enemy fleet has already turned to engage the Forward Unto Dawn. After we break through the fleet I will be dropping down to the planets surface to assist your troops." Said the Spartan as the comms dropped.

"The Chief is back? The Chief is back…THE CHIEF IS BACK!" yelled one of the staff as the entire room started to go up in cheers.

"Quick alert the infantry now that the Chief is on his way now!" yelled Colonel Williams with a smile. "This is exactly what we needed!"

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"The enemy ships have entered the range of our MACs!" said Cortana.

"Then give them Hell…" said John as the twin Super MACs fired both their slugs at the incoming fleet.

It took less than 5 seconds for the shells to hit the enemy ships. One destroyer and one frigate were both instantly decimated by the sheer power of the kinetic rounds.

"They are opening fire! Brace for impact!" yelled Cortana as the Forward Unto Dawn was struck by multiple hits coming for missiles and Mass Accelerator Cannons. "Shields are holding at 92%...those torpedoes are the main problem…they caused a distortion changed the mass of the area around the shields."

"Fire every weapon at the fleet. Have Railguns and Laser Batteries target the fighters while the Hailstorm Proton(Light Based Weapon) Point Defense Cannons and Hydra missiles target the larger ships in the fleet.

"Fire!" stated John as the Forward Unto Dawn fired every weapon at it's disposal at the enemy fleet. Streaks of blue and white lights lit up space as the Hydra missiles broke apart into many smaller missiles as they neared their target and the Hailstorm cannons fired condensed beams of light energy.

The Hailstorm Cannons hit first and tore through the hull of the ships completely ignoring the barriers that the MACs had registered when they had first fired. The volley tore open two ships a destroyer, and a frigate.

Next the Hydra missiles descended upon the fleet and decimated every ship in the fleet leaving many with no shields and hull damage on many of the ships. The Hailstorm cannons continued to fire and soon the fleet was in full retreat to the other side of Harvest's moon.

"Chief…enemy fleet is in full retreat. Shields are standing at 86% and there are no hull breaches. The Forward Unto Dawn's upgrades worked better than we could've expected…do you wish to pursue the fleet." Asked Cortana as John got up out of the captain's chair.

"Negative…put us over the capital. I will go down through orbital insertion…continue to stay above Harvest and only engage the enemy fleet if they make a move. Once I'm clear I want you to send orbital supply drops to every unit down there…they much be running low on ammo now." He said as he entered the Hanger bay of the Forward Unto Dawn.

"Chief…we aren't positive if your new armor will hold up during Orbital insertion…" stated Cortana as the Hanger bay doors opened just as the Forward Unto Dawn took position over the city of Hope.

"Only one way to find out. Patch me through to all allied frequencies." Stated John as he began to walk to the edge of the Hanger bay. "This is SPARTAN Sierra-117 to all ground forces…the enemy fleet has been beaten back and I am about to make an Orbital Insertion at Coordinates ET 67855321."

"Good luck Chief…" stated Cortana as John jumped out of the Forward Unto Dawn and began to fall to the planet below.

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Sgt. Richards was barely holding the line against the never-ending horde of hostiles that was throwing themselves against his dug in ODSTs. They had dug in to the position some time ago and met up with various other units in order to form one last line until help arrived.

It had worked at first and the enemy had suffered massive casualties against his men, but he knew they couldn't last much longer. All along the line units were starting to run low on ammo enabling the hostile aliens to close the distance with his forces.

Other parts of the line had even degenerated into vicious melees as the enemy was able to advance directly onto their positions. However, the various units holding the line refused to retreat as they all now knew the cost of failure was the death and enslavement of thousands of civilians.

"SGT! The enemy fleet has taken massive casualties and is pulling out of the atmosphere!" called out a corporal in his squad who was manning the radio.

"Is the fleet here?" Richards asked as he popped up and fired a burst from his smg to keep the aliens from advancing.

"Command claims it was a single ship, Sir!" yelled out the Corporal as those who were in hearing range looked at him in surprise.

"Impossible! The only ships capable of that would be one of our new Super Carriers or Battlecruisers!" claimed a specialist as he fired his gun sporadically at the enemy.

"Believe what you want man, but the ship has taken up residence over the city and the enemy fleet is in full retreat! The ship is hailing on all frequencies…patching it through to your personal transponders!" said the Corporal as all the men touched a button onto their helmets allowing them to all receive messages.

"This is SPARTAN Sierra-117 to all ground forces…the enemy fleet has been beaten back and I am about to make an Orbital Insertion at Coordinates ET 67855321." Came a deep voice over the radio shocking every single soldier on the battlefield enough that they all stopped fighting for a few seconds.

Sierra-117, Master Chief, SPARTAN-117, or John-117 was a name that every human or alien in the known galaxy knew. He was a shining example of personal sacrifice, courage, strength, and will and was the HERO of the Human/Covenant War and the destroyer of the Flood. Just the information that he was alive and about to fight alongside the defenders of Hope was enough to have all of the soldiers hearts soar.

"The Chief is alive? Come on men! LET'S SHOW THESE BASTARDS THE TRUE POWER OF HUMANITY!" shouted Sgt. Richards as he stepped up over cover and opened fire on a group of aliens. He was soon followed by his whole squad, but the enemy kept coming and ammo was running low.

"SGT! I'm out of ammo!" yelled a private, but before Richards could respond he saw the private take five rounds to the chest, the first three were brought down his shields and the last two downed the soldier hard.

"Medic!" yelled the SGT! As the Aliens started to push once again.

"SIR! THE SKY!" yelled the specialist as the whole squad looked up to see a bright orange object streak across the sky and land with a large shockwave no more than 60 yards away from their line and in the middle of a platoon of enemy soldiers.

"What the hell was that?" asked Corporal as every combatant on the battlefield looked at the cloud of dust that was kicked up by the impact.

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Leuatenant Bozn's of the Batarian Hegemony's Marine Corps was truly surprised by how well this species had been able to fight against his species. He was positive that they would've just surrender after their small, but advanced fleet had been wiped out.

That was the first surprise that they encountered when they entered the system, as they hadn't even been expecting any enemy ships. Probes had been sent in with various meteor showers to prevent them from being detected by the enemy and they were a success.

There hadn't been any ships detected in orbit, but a week was a long time and in that time the planet must have received a garrison in that amount of time. When the fleet exited FTL it was already too late to pull out of the mission and it led to the Fleet Admiral opening fire as soon as they had entered effective attack range.

The enemy fleet garrison had been caught off guard, but they were able to quickly return fire onto their fleet and to the Batarian's surprise the enemy weapons easily decimated the ships in their fleet in one shot from their massive cannons.

However, they were outnumbered completely against the Batarian fleet and despite their shields being significantly stronger than the Batarian's shields they soon were all destroyed from the greater numbers, but not before taking six ships down with them including one of their dreadnoughts.

Then when they had finally commenced ground operations against the capital city it was predicted that they would've won after a little less than 6 hours, but they had held out for a surprising 3 days despite the odds.

Now they were making a final push for the center of the city and apparently the enemy was starting to run out of ammo due to them being unprepared for a longer engagement.

"Move up! Put some covering fire down and move up!" Bozn's yelled in a deep voice as his marines continued to slowly inch their way to the enemies line despite fierce resistance.

"Sir! The fleet is reporting that a new enemy ship has entered the system through some sort of unknown FTL technology!" yelled a soldier working on the two way radio.

"So the enemy sent in a scout? We need to move before their main fleet arrives! All men advance now!" yelled Bozn's as most of his men advanced on his enemy positions.

"Sir! The fleet has just lost a Dreadnought and a cruiser in just one volley away from the enemy ship! It's using advanced weapons…the fleet is retreating and has suffered massive damage!" yelled the soldier as most of the platoon completely froze in shock at that information.

It was at that moment that the enemy opened automatic fire upon his unit, killing three men immediately and sending the rest into cover. "Sir the enemy is advancing! They must have received word that our fleet has been destroyed."

"Doesn't matter! They only have one ship…that isn't enough to reinforce their position." Yelled Bozn's as he opened fire on the human soldiers, but the assault from the enemy was completely overwhelming to his men.

However, the assault was soon bogged down due to the enemy running out of their ammo and LT. Bozn's overwhelming numbers. "This is the final push! Advance!" yelled Bozn's as his entire platoon plus a few other platoons charged at the depleted enemy lines.

"Sir! We have incoming!" yelled one of his Sergeants as the whole platoon looked up to see a streak of light heading for their position.

"Get to cover!" yelled Bozn's as the men all scattered in different directions. The object impacted the ground with a massive shockwave that kicked up a large cloud of dust into the air and knocking most of his men off of their feet.

"What the hell was that?" asked a private as he pointed his gun at the cloud of dust as with hald of his men.

The attack came as suddenly as the object from the sky did. One second his men were approaching the cloud of dust and the next there was panic as 5 soldiers were struck by some sort of beam weapon in a span of only 2 seconds.

Bozn's took cover along with a group of men, but they had already lost 6 more men and they enemy in the cloud of dust wasn't even close to stopping. "All units open fire!" yelled Bozn's as his unit opened up with everything from pistol rounds to armor piercing missiles to destroy whatever was in the cloud of dust.

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All combatants on the battlefield stared at the now even larger cloud of dust after the massive attack by the Batarians that could've easily destroyed a Scorpion Tank. However, they weren't shooting at a Scorpion…they were shooting at something much worse.

The smoke cleared and to the shock of the Batarians a single man was standing with his fist in the ground and a large yellow energy sphere surrounding him. He was massive and was wearing Green Combat armor that screamed deadly.

"My turn…" muttered the SPARTAN quietly, but his voice resonated throughout the battlefield. It sent shivers of excitement down the spines of the humans, but shivers of fear and death down the spines of the Batarians.

It all happened at once as the shield collapsed and the SPARTAN had closed the distance with the first Batarian and stabbed him in the throat, before anyone of the Batarians could react. However, it didn't end their as the SPARTAN took twin weapons off his back and started firing white laser projectiles at a group of Batarians with accuracy that could only be obtained through years of hard combat.

Before the Batarians had even opened fire 10 of them had already been cut down by the mechanical monster that was known as a SPARTAN. John fluidly cut a path of destruction through the ranks of Batarians as they attempted to put an end to his life, but he was too fast and his shields were too strong for any attacks to be successful.

Two missiles arced across the battlefield as John flipped over the first missile and leaned out of the way of the second as he drew an elongated alien weapon and fired a beam of energy that decimated a line of Batarians including the one with the missile launchers.

In just two minutes the Batarians had gone from 220 to just 140 due to the unrelenting and aggressive attack made by John. Despite having killed so many his shields had been only minimally weakened by the enemy, but had recharged quickly enough to the point where it seemed like he had taken no damage at all.

It seemed as if the initial attack by the SPARTAN had caused mass panic in the Batarians who remained as many started to retreat in panic in the face of an unstoppable force. That did little to deter the SPARTAN though as he killed the last of the enemies still trying to win the day.

When it was all said and done there was nothing more than piles of Batarian bodies as the SPARTAN stood at the center of the mass of bodies slowly looking over his weapons to ensure they were working properly.

"Holy shit! You slaughtered them all!" yelled one of the ODSTs as the remaining humans came from their cover to question the Chief.

"Just doing my job…" stated John as he pressed a button on his helmet. "This is Sierra-117…anyone in need of aid?"

"This is the 134 Colonial Regiment! We are in need of aid Sierra-117! Enemy forces are threating to overrun our positions and we are running low on ammo!" yelled the man on the other end of the radio.

"Hold out for a few minutes…I will be there soon." Stated John as he crouched and took off into the direction of the depleted regiment.

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"Sir! Squads are reporting a drop in enemy forces and a lone SPARTAN making quick work of any remaining forces that are trying to break through our line!" yelled a radio operator as Colonel Williams smiled in victory.

"Hell of day for a living legend to return…eh boys?" the Colonel asked to his men as resounding cheers went off around the room.

"Sir! The enemy fleet is moving into position to attack the Forward Unto Dawn! Wait…we are receiving word from the UNSC 3rd Recon Fleet! They are about to enter the system soon!" called out the man as they whole room smiled in what was sure to be complete victory.

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Admiral Reton looked at the many consoles on his bridge monitoring his fleet and ground forces. What was sure to be an easy victory against a primitive race had gone to complete hell as his fleet was decimated by their guard fleet and the single Dreadnought that had weapons and shields beyond anything he had ever encountered in his long life as an Admiral.

"Sir! Ground forces are getting slaughtered without fleet support! They are reporting that a single green monster is slaughtering our soldiers!" yelled one of his ensigns on the bridge.

"That's impossible!" yelled the Admiral. He was positive that even without fleet support his men would've taken the capital in less than a day and forced the enemy to just surrender, but now his men had lost? They had numbers with a 5:1 ratio and yet this primitive race was decimating them at every twist and turn.

"Sir! I'm patching in a video feed from the battlefield of this monster!" said the ensign as the whole bridge crew watched in curiosity as the video started. Curiosity soon turned to awe and horror as they watched the soldier rip through their lines with deadly precision that would put even the best Asari and Spectre commandos to shame.

It was over as fast as it began as many of the Batarian soldiers began to panic rather than face the monster in combat as it slaughtered all those who dared to resist against its might. The last they saw of the video was the monster coming to camera and picking up and staring at the device before crushing it between it's hands.

"Dammit! Notify the fleet! We are going to engage the enemy ship now! Our men won't last long without our help!" yelled the admiral as the whole bridge exploded into a mass frenzy as the they started to contact the whole fleet.

"Get into a Wedge formation! Frigates in the front, Cruisers on the flanks, and we will be in the center! I want one frigate heading back to the mass relay…tell Hegemony that we need to secure this colony…this technology might be what we need to fight the Council!" ordered the Admiral as he watched one of his frigates leave the formation and enter FTL to get to the Mass Relay.

"If this is to be our final hour then I will die destroying that ship!" claimed the Admiral as his fleet went do destroy the dreadnought hovering over the planet.

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"Don't worry admiral! I have already calculated the direction in which that ship has retreated to. There is a system several light-years away in that direction." Stated Cortana as she stared at another Hologram of an older man in his early 50's.

"Good…we will be dropping out of Slipspace in one minute. Jam their communications as soon as we drop out. We don't want them knowing our true strength." Stated the admiral with a small smile.

"I have had extensive time to hack and decode their systems sir! I have learned that their race is part of a galactic council that consists of many races. However, this council is much more peaceful than the Covenant are…in fact these Batarians are attacking our system for resources and slaves for more power in the council." Stated Cortana as the Admiral nodded in reply.

"What do their numbers stand at?" asked the Admiral.

"Their fleet is large Sir, but their technology prevents them from matching our strength and by themselves they would lose a direct war with us. Their shields do not block energy weapons at all so our new plasma weapons should do massive damage to their ships and the new weapons of the Forward Unto Dawn are extremely effective against their ships. However, if the Council joins them then the odds of victory would go down from 90 to 10 to about 60 to 40 in our favor." Stated Cortana as the Admiral nodded.

"I have already received word that the NCA has already given full support to the USF. These Batarians have united our armies quicker than what 10 years of peace would've done for us. Once the main fleet arrives I have been given orders to cross this Relay and take the Batarians colony in order to secure a beachhead into their space. What are our chances of victory when the NCA enters the war?" asked the Admiral as Cortana smiled.

"Chances of victory will be at 98 to 2 Admiral Schneider. There is no fleet in the universe that can withstand the might USF when both the USNC and the NCA are working together." Replied Cortana.

"Good…we are exiting slipspace in 10 seconds." Said the now revealed Admiral Schneider.

"That's good Sir…enemy communications have been jammed. Enemy ships have entered MAC range…firing! Fleet arrival in 3…2…1" said Cortana as numerous contacts popped up on screen and fired their MACs immediately.

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"Sir! The Kesh has been destroyed by a single shot from that Mass Accelerator!" yelled one of his men on the bridge.

"Communications have been jammed! We have no contact with the rest of our ships! SIR! Numerous contacts! 38 ships have just appeared in the system…they are firing Admiral!" yelled another as the admiral stared out into the darkness of space.

"My gods….what have we unleashed upon our people." Said the Admiral as he watched the massive enemy ships open fire at once. He didn't feel it when his ship decompressed from the multiple MACs impacting into the hull and exploded as the Mass Effect Core was breached.

It was the first of numerous victories that would show the rest of the galaxy that messing with Humanity would end with nothing but sorrow.

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Well there you go everyone my first Chapter now here is the small codex for ya!

USF (UNITED SPECIES FEDERATION)

The USF is the combination of both NCA and UNSC Fleets into one to ensure cooperation and peace between the two powers. It is theorized that within 5 years the UNSC and NCA will be the past as they will have officially combined into the USF.

NCA (NEW COVENANT ALLIANCE)

Formed in the aftermath of the Human/Covenant War the NCA is the combination of the Sangheili, Unngoy, Mgalekgolo, and Yanme'e. As the main leaders of the NCA the Sangheili have promised to always come to the aid of the Human species as a way to make up for the genocidal war that they waged for decades. Their efforts to make amends has come a long way and relations are steadily improving between the NCA and UNSC.

**Ship Classifications (COUNCIL)**

Dreadnought - Dreadnoughts are anywhere between .9 KM to 1.9 KM in length and are the most powerful ships in Council space. They possess powerful kinetic barriers and weapons capable of decimating most enemy warships…in council space. Despite all this there are rumors that the Turians, Salarians, and Batarians have been working on a series of super-dreadnoughts.

Carriers- Carriers are the largest ships in the council Navy standing at 1.3 KM to some being 2.1 KM in length. They carry very little armament and are to be protected by the other ships of the fleet. One carrier can change the tide of a Fleet battle.

Cruiser-Cruisers are the workhorse of the Council Navy, standing anywhere between .8 KM to 1.1 KM in length. A cruiser can perform any role in the Council navy from troop deployment, frontline combat, scouts, or even serve as flagships.

Frigates- Frigates are the scout and flotilla ships of the Council Navy and can be anywhere from .4 KM to .8 KM in length depending on the nation. They can range from being heavily armed to being geared for stealth for covert missions.

Fighters- Since any species learned the marvels of flight…there has been a man wanting to shoot a gun from that method of flight. Hence where the fighter got its origins! Ineffective alone, but deadly in a swarm fighters can do just about anything when given a task.

**Ship Classifications (UNSC)**

Maginot Class Super Carrier – The Flagships of the New UNSC fleet the Super Carrier stands at 13 KM in length, dwarfing all but the strongest NCA ships. The Carry hundreds of defense weapons including Plasma Torpedoes, 4 MAC's, 2 Super MAC's, Shiva Nuclear Missile Launchers, plasma turrets, pulse laser turrets, and a single energy projector. It is also shielded by an advanced shield and several layers of Titanium-A armor that can shrug off most attacks. Three have been built since the end of the war with two more under construction.

Infinity Class Battlecruiser – A new class of ship that was started at the end of the Human/ Covenant War the Battlecruiser was to push the Covenant back in the case that Earth fell one day. However, that was no longer needed at the end of the war so the ones in construction were soon upgraded even further with Covenant arms a like pulse laser turrets, Plasma Torpedoes, and two super MAC's along with many point defense cannons. They stand at a staggering 5.6 KM in length and have advanced Forerunner Shielding. There are currently 13 constructed with 6 more being built as of this moment.

Archangel Class Carrier – A carrier that stands at roughly 3.4 KM in length and capable of holding hundreds of Sabre and Short-sword Bombers in its hangers. Upgraded to have a good amount of shielding and carrying two MACs this class of ship can even fight with out it's fighter groups.

Halcyon Class Cruisers – Ridiculed at the beginning of the war these ships became a lifesaver at the end. Able to take massive amounts of damage this class of ship could be argued as the most powerful ship of the war for the UNSC. During the wars climax this ship received a major boost to it's armament making it just as strong offensively as it was defensively. They stand at a "modest" length of 1.6 KM in length.

Argo Class Destroyer – Armed to the teeth and rugged like a bull the new Argo class destroyers are 1.1 KM in length, but armed with a Super MAC and hundreds of guns along with advanced shielding and hundreds of plasma and kinetic based weapons. A destroyer can do just about anything from deploying troops to taking on a Covenant Carrier.

Washington Class Frigate - .6 KM long this frigate has replaced all other frigates in its class. Newer shields and plasma weapons make this ship quite the workhorse armed with Plasma Torpedoes, Laser Pulse Turrets, and a giant Super MAC this classification of ship has gained new appreciation in light of the end of the war.

Sabre Interceptors – Having to compete with advanced alien fighters the UNSC had to upgrade quickly and what they got was one of the most effective fighters ever made! This fighter could got toe to toe with any other aircraft in space and still come out on top. However, very few were built and those that were built were lost when Reach was glassed. But now they are back and are itching for combat.


	2. Chapter 2

Well here it is the second chapter of my newest story…now at this point in time I have yet to come out with a name for it as I am writing 10 full chapters before I even post it onto Fanfiction…so enjoy lol

"From what we have gathered about these Batarians it is safe to assume that they will not take this loss standing down. They will either send another fleet or they will request this Council's help. However, our AIs have predicted a 85% chance of them coming through the Relay in force…you will be there to welcome them with the UNSC Expeditionary Fleet." Stated President Alexander Cole, younger Cousin of the late Admiral Cole…one of the hero's of the Human/Covenant War.

Alexander Cole wasn't quite the military leader that his cousin was, but he was a hell of a politician that favored a direct hands on approach to nearly every issue that came to him. He had won the first free election after the war by a landslide when he promised that he would ensure that Humanity would never come close to the brink of extinction if he had anything to say about it.

The past 8 years had been trying on him as he worked to build up UNSC strength and secure an Alliance with the species that had once tried to eradicate his race. However, all his hard work had paid off and humanity was well on it's way to being a galactic super power once more.

Now his policies were starting to pay off as the UNSC had once again been attacked by a hostile alien species and the UNSC was more than ready for it. It only took a single hour to have all members of the USF to agree to going to war with the Batarians.

It also didn't hurt that Humanity was in fact the successors of the Forerunners…aka Reclaimers as many of the Covenant called humanity now that the truth was public. Now humanity had the backing of the strongest navies in history and they would put all of that to good use.

Their first move was to secure this Mass Relay with a series of ODPs and the Fleet of Reconciliation that had already been sent to Harvest to aid with repairs and security of the Relay. The Fleet would link with the UNSC 29th Expeditionary Fleet at the relay and would then go to secure the planet on the other side to ensure the security of USF space.

Those two fleets would then defend the system long enough for several USF combined fleets to come and begin a massive assault on Batarian colonies. Once, the Batarians were beaten the USF would go to the Citadel and force the Batarians to surrender or else risk destruction of their government.

There were several failsafe's in place to ensure the leaders wouldn't be caught off guard such as if the Citadel decided to send fleets at the USF to expel them from their space. However, President Cole had complete faith that his men would beat back any attempt to dislodge them from their positions.

"We will be receiving any aid from the USF within the next week Mr. President?" asked the newly promoted Fleet Admiral Schneider.

"Yes…the USF Council has agreed to send the Fleet of Reconciliation to assist your fleet. They are not the largest fleet and are only at half strength, but it has one Super Carrier, and 5 Assault Carriers so I'm sure they will be of some use to you Admiral…use them at your convenience." Said President Cole as he watched the Admiral's lips curl upward into a small smile.

"These Batarians won't know what hit them Mr. President. What do you want me to do with the Forward Unto Dawn and the Master Chief? I'm sure it would be wise to have the Forward Unto Dawn reversed engineered to improve our weapons, but if it is possible I would like the Chief to remain with me for the coming attack on the enemy." Asked Admiral Schneider as President Cole nodded with a smile of his own.

"Humanities greatest hero shall once again take the fight to our enemies. I can't believe he can still fight though! Those SPARTANS are indeed a piece of work." Said the President with a whistle.

"Indeed Mr. President…it is actually unclear whether or not they can even die of old age. Many of our scientist actually believe a SPARTAN can live up 500 years and barely age." Said the Admiral as the President chuckled.

"Let's keep that to ourselves Admiral. Okay I have to talk to the UEG Senate about military manners. Good luck to you…I know you will make humanity and the rest of the galaxy proud when the time comes to it." Said the President as the Admiral saluted and the hologram shut off.

"I am giving you command of a compliment of SPARTAN-IVs Chief…they are all veterans who fought in the wars, but they have all just recently completed SPARTAN augmentations. Thought it might be good for them to see the best in action." Stated Admiral Schneider as Master Chief nodded.

"Yes sir! I will not disappoint you sir!" said Master Chief as he saluted the Admiral.

"None of that Chief…if anyone deserves to be saluted it is you. I'm surprised though…I thought you would've at least liked to have a small break before you were thrust into warfare again." Said the Admiral as John nodded.

"The thought crossed my mind Sir, but I know only warfare. I wouldn't be able to function properly in the civilian world, Sir!" said John as the Admiral nodded.

"That is all then Chief…make sure you look after that squad you are leading. It has some of the best soldiers of the war in it." Said the Admiral as John saluted and left the bridge.

"Is the fleet ready?" asked Admiral Schneider to his XO.

"Yes Sir! All ships are reporting in and are ready for the jump to the Mass Relay!" said his XO as the Admiral nodded and looked out the viewport of his new flagship. The USF Saratoga, one of the new Inifinity Class Battlecruisers. It was supported by one more of the new Infinity Class Battlecruisers, the first of the new Super Carriers the Maginot, two Carriers, 10 Cruisers, 12 Destroyers, and 26 Frigates all ready for battle bringing his total number of ships to 55 in total.

"All Ships jump on my mark…3…2…1…Mark!" commanded the Admiral as the whole fleet entered slipspace to secure their end of the Mass Relay and to await aid from the Fleet of Reconciliation and the numerous ODP's that the fleet was towing in behind them.

"Sir! All ships have entered Slipspace…time to destination is 8 hours!" reported one of the men on the bridge.

"Good I want all men ready for combat in 7 hours." Said the Admiral as the crew all nodded in agreement.

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"We must send the entirety of the 3rd Fleet to ensure that this race is subjugated! With them under our might we will have the power to finally seize power in the galaxy!" yelled a Batarian Admiral as many in the large meeting room nodded in agreement.

"Sit down! We have no idea how strong this new species is! For all that we know that could've been a small fringe colony and their main fleet is now on there way to the Relay! There ships are more advanced than ours even without Element Zero! Do you really want to risk more lives in a war that might lead to another Rachni Incident?" asked another Admiral in the room. Following his outcry there were far fewer shouts of agreement than the other.

"So you wish to just bend over and let these primitives walk over us? We have one of the largest and most powerful ships in Council Space! It will be nothing more than an insult to our people if we don't crush them now!" yelled the first admiral in anger.

"It is better than fighting a war that we don't have to fight!" yelled the other in response.

"Our intelligence has reported that they likely only possesses a few worlds! The chances of them having a strong enough fleet to beat ours is laughable!" yelled the one as many chuckled in agreement.

"Are you mad? One ship alone was more than enough to fight off over half a fleet! What if they have more ships like that? We won't last against a species who has ships that powerful!" yelled the one Admiral as many in the room booed in protest to his statement.

"Listen to yourself! You are going against everything we know! We are the supreme species of this galaxy, but you would have us grovel at the ankles of the council for mere scraps! Now I move for an immediate mobilization of our fleets to crush this new species now!" yelled the one admiral as many in the room started to chant the name Tarlon!

The other admiral quickly stood from his seat and left the room with his own small group of admirals that supported his ides. "That fool Tarlon is nothing more than a war hound. He does not see the grand scale of things and that will hurt us in the end."

"True Admiral Archon…but if we could get that technology it would ensure that the galaxy would always have a place for the Batarian Race." Said one of the admiral's captains.

"But at what cost?" whispered Admiral Archon as he watched the Third Fleet quickly make FTL jump towards the Relay 314.  
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"Reports are accurate…sent the team myself. Batarians are mobilizing for war, perhaps invasion. Unknown enemy though…pirates…no relations with pirates are good in the Hegemony, perhaps preemptive strike against council? No, Batarian economy still relies on the council. That leaves a new species that has attacked Hegemony space…" said a Salarian STG agent as he briefed an admiral on the mobilization of Batarian forces.

"I want a report filed to the Council. If they are preparing to attack the Council then we should be ready. Also get a team together and investigate the destination of this Third Fleet…I want to know where they are heading ASAP." Said the Admiral as the STG agent nodded and quickly left the room.

"Assemble the 7th Fleet…we are heading to the Citadel!" said the Admiral as their fleet entered FTL.

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"So this is the Mass Relay…a device capable of launching our ships across the universe in just seconds. This may revolutionize the way we look at the universe. Is the fleet in position?" asked Admiral Schneider as his XO walked up.

"They are Sir…if anything comes through our Fleet will be able to bring all guns to bare and send the enemy into a deadly crossfire." Said the XO as Admiral Schneider Smiled.

"Is the Fleet of Reconciliation going to be here soon?" he asked once again.

"6 Hours Sir! The Fleet Commander is requesting orders for when his fleet arrives." Said the XO.

"Tell him that he is to stop outside of sensor range. I don't want to have to use his fleet unless we really need to. Keep an Ace up our sleeves, also keep the Maginot hidden behind that Gas Giant and have 2 Cruiser and 4 frigates escort the ship. If things get dicey it might be a good idea to have the only a few seconds away." Explained Admiral Schneider.

"Yes Sir! We will be ready for when the enemy arrives." Stated the man as resumed his duties. The Admiral watched him go as the others on the bridge did their jobs.

He looked out the window to the sight of his assembled fleet all moved into position to defend the Relay from what was predicted to be a massive enemy fleet. It had only been 8 years since the war, but yet here they were once again about to do battle with another alien species.

There was no way of telling what exactly would come through the relay, but he knew his men would do their job and in the end humanity would prevail once more again as they did before.  
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"Is the fleet ready?" asked Admiral Tarlon as he stood at the helm of his Flagship. It was the newest model of Dreadnought the Batarians had constructed. It stood at 1.9 KM long and was even larger than the Turian's most powerful Dreadnoughts.

"Sir! All Captains are ready to begin the jump through the Relay." Reported one of the officers as he smiled with glee.

"Bring up communications to every fleet. This is Admiral Tarlon of the Batarian 3rd Fleet! We Batarians have been mocked, scorned, and looked down upon by those that claim to be our superiors! Today we begin to change the way the galaxy works…with our victory we shall usher in an age of technological and numerical superiority and the Council will finally be forced to admit to Batarian superiority! Do your jobs proudly and show no mercy for we are Batarians and we are the RIGHTFUL RULERS OF THIS GALAXY!" yelled the Admiral as every ship in the 3rd fleet broke out into applause and jubilation at the Admiral's speech.

"Helmsmen! Head to the Relay! Frigates first, cruisers second, and Dreadnoughts last! If there are any ships on the other side…do not hesitate to destroy them!" commanded the Admiral as the large fleet of 34 Frigates, 28 Cruisers, and 12 Dreadnoughts made their way to the relay and jumped through it…heading to the first of many large engagements in a war between the Hegemony and the USF.

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"Sir! We are getting contact from the Relay! A very large force of ships are coming through…ETA 45 seconds!" said the ships on board AI Taylor.

"All ships red alert! Charge the MACs and warm up the plasma weapons! Open fire the second they open fire…I don't want us seen as the aggressor in this war!" said the Admiral as he stared at the space surrounding the Relay.

"Taylor I want you to activate as many cyberwarfare suites as possible! I want as much info as you can gather from this fleet and the location of their Admiral in the fleet." Ordered the Admiral as a hologram of Taylor appeared on one of the consoles.

"I have already prepared all forms of attack. When they attack I will have hopefully already breached their networks." She replied.

"Arrival in 3…2…1…Mark!" called out one of his men as a large fleet suddenly materialized around the Relay and immediately begin to move to engage his fleet.

"Admiral…the enemy ships are charging weapons and shields! They've opened fire Sir!" yelled out the AI as the Admiral watched as the attacks impacted the ships of his fleet, but he was surprised to see not a single attack get through the shields of his Frigates.

"All ships open fire! Send them into the Abyss!" called out the Admiral as his ships immediately opened fire on the enemy fleet and closed into engage in close range combat.

Admiral Schneider watched with satisfaction as his frigates and destroyers MACs were able to easily penetrate the defenses of the enemy fleet and tore through all but the largest enemy ships.

"Sir! Enemy fighters are approaching the Infinity! The Alexia's Squadrons are moving to support the Infinity now! Enemy has suffered the loss of 6 Frigates and 3 Destroyers Sir!" stated Taylor as she continued to monitor the battle.

"Enemy cruisers are massing fire at the Infinity Sir! It seems they are targeting the most dangerous ships first!" stated the XO.

"Bare our arms on the closet enemy Cruiser! Show them the power of our Super MAC! How long till the fleet is close enough to use the Plasma Torpedoes?" asked the Admiral.

"Moving into position now Admiral and we have just entered Plasma Torpedo range…should we open fire?" asked Taylor as the Admiral just gave her a look that screamed 'NO SHIT!'

"Opening fire now Sir!"

Admiral Schneider watched in awe as his two battlecruisers, 10 Cruisers, and 12 Destroyers opened fire with their new plasma Torpedoes. The bright green plasma torps travelled quickly into the scattering enemy fleet, but the enemy didn't anticipate that the torps were guided.

Space was lit up in a fiery teal explosion as large portion of ships were complete annihilated by the torps as if the ships had no shields at all. It was easy to tell that already a quarter of enemy ships had already been destroyed by his fleet.

However, now that they were at closer range the enemy fleet, which still had larger numbers was able to swarm over the larger ships of the UNSC fleet and start to inflict damage of their own as the UNSC fleet's point defense cannons began to open fire on the Batarians.

"Sir! We have lost the Breznov! Many of the frigates are being hammered by those Cruisers!" Taylor exclaimed as the Admiral watched the Breznov exploded after taking constant fire from 5 of the enemy Cruisers.

"Are the Super MACs charged and aimed?" asked the Admiral.

"Yes they are Sir!" yelled his weapons officer as the Admiral nodded.

"Good! Fire both and tell the Infinity to target those Cruisers too!" Ordered Admiral Schneider as the Saratoga fired its two Super MACs at the enemy Cruisers. The enemy cruisers were struck instantly and vaporized as the massive shell tore through its shields and armor as if it were nothing.

"That's for the Breznov!" yelled one of the Marines on the bridge as the Admiral smiled in satisfaction at the sight of his Super MACs easily killing the enemies largest ships.

"Enemy strength is at 65%, chances are that they will try to retreat." Stated Taylor as the Admiral nodded.

"Call in the Maginot and its escorts to block off the Relay! Hopefully, the presence of our largest ship will convince the Batarians to surrender." Offered the Admiral as Taylor nodded.

"It is done…ETA 15 seconds!"

The battle was going exceedingly well for the UNSC ships as the Batarian technology was no match for the sheer power of the UNSC weapons and defenses. The UNSC MACs were stronger than a Batarian Dreadnought's own MAC and the shields of even the smallest UNSC frigate was strong enough to shrug off 7 MAC rounds from a Dreadnought.

This didn't even take into account the hundreds of missiles being launched by the UNSC fleet that overwhelmed the GAURDIAN Lasers of the Batarian fleet. Nor did it include the Plasma Torps that were capable of completely bypassing the Batarians Kinetic Barriers.

Despite losing 35% of their fleet the Batarians were still a formidable foe as they regrouped and began to fire en masse at the UNSC fleet, but even this strategy proved ineffective as more and more ships were destroyed due to fire from the UNSC fleet. However, the UNSC had suffered the loss of 1 Cruiser, 1 Destroyer, and 4 Frigates, but that was nothing compared to the Batarian losses.

It was then that the UNSC Maginot…the massive 15KM Super Carrier arrived onto the battle right between the remaining Batarian Ships and the Mass Relay. The simple appearance of this massive behemoth sent the enemy fleet into complete disarray as hundreds of point defense cannon and plasma torpedoes rained hell upon the Batarians.

Along with the Carriers many armaments the ship also launched its full compliment of fighters and bombers that tore through the depleted Squadrons of the Batarian fleet and soon moved unto the panicking ships.

It was then that the last few ships in the Batarian turned as one and attempted to fight past the Maginot to reach the Relay. Point defense cannons from the Maginot hammered the ships, but they lucked out as they were too close to the Maginot for the UNSC to use either the MACs or Plasma Torpedoes.

"Admiral Schneider! The Batarian Admiral is on that last Dreadnought heading for the Relay! Unless we stop him he will escape in 15 seconds!" yelled Taylor as the Admiral watched the Dreadnought take round after round from the 50mm Point Defense guns that the Carrier possessed.

"Have the frigates chase down that ship and fire their MACs!" ordered Schneider as three frigates began to charge their MACs and close in on the damaged Dreadnought.

"Charging…they have a lock…firing now!" Taylor said as the Admiral watched all three ships fire their MACs at the same time. The 600-ton projectiles closed the distance in a second, but right before the MACs hit the ship disappeared in a flash of light along with 3 other escaping ships.

"Damn! Get the fleet assembled and notify the Fleet of Reconciliation to move into the system! We are jumping through once Battlegroup Delta and 211 Scout Flotilla arrive!" said the admiral as Taylor sent out the various messages to the fleets.

"Battlegroup Delta will arrive in 35 minutes and the 211th Scout Flotilla will be here in an hour and twenty minutes! The Fleet of Reconciliation will be here in 3 hours Sir! The Fleet Master wants to know if his ships will be participating in the assault on the other side of the relay?" said Taylor.

"Tell him that they are to secure this side of the relay and stand by to come to our aid if need be. Now what are our losses in the battle?" asked the Admiral.

"The fleet has received rather minor damage in regards to their losses Admiral. We have lost 1 Cruiser, 1 Destroyer, and 5 Frigates in the battle. Although we have 4 damaged Cruisers, 3 damaged Destroyers and 7 damaged Frigates. However, the good news is that the damage in all those ships is very low and repairs are predicted to take only 4 hours." Said Taylor as the Admiral nodded.

"Damn these beings…how many lives have already been lost in this war! This war didn't have to take place at all and now look at the losses already! They lost nearly 80 ships while we lost 7 ships full of fine men who only wanted to protect their home! How many more of those men will die in the coming battles?" spoke the Admiral as many on the bridge nodded in agreement.

"I want all men briefed on the mission! Start loading the gear and supplying the weapons, prep the SPARTANS…these Batarians started this war, but by God we will finish it!" said the Admiral as all across the fleet Marines, ODSTs, and SPARTANS all were preparing for the first combat drop since the Human/Covenant War.

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"Dammit! How the hell did that happen? I was told that their capabilities couldn't possibly match ours if we attacked en masse!" yelled Admiral Tarlon as his XO walked up to him.

"Their ships didn't use Element-Zero so it was predicted that their method of travel would take months…not a few days Sir!" responded the XO as the Admiral growled at him.

"I don't care! Send a message to the Hegemony…if they attack our world then they will have to deal with those fools of a council protecting our colony. We will be able to pit our two greatest foes against each other right from the start!" explained Admiral Tarlon as his XO nodded.

"Helmsmen! Head for the next system and tell the ships of the Defense Fleet to hold at all costs and that any ship that retreats will be destroyed immediately." Said the Admiral as his helmsmen sent the ship into FTL.  
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"SPARTANS…you are the sword and shield of humanity! When something needs to be done we send you in and you complete the mission. A SPARTAN is the best of the best and lays everything on the line. I am asking for that now…you will strike hard and you will succeed!" said Admiral Schneider as he stared at the two teams of SPARTANS before him with Master Chief in the center between the two.

A SPARTAN IV team consisted of 5 men each all suited to handle different tasks. Despite many of them focusing one task they all were able to handle every weapon in the USF and every single vehicle. Along with that they all had been installed with their own personal AI which was a standard in their Mark VII armor.

"Your two squads will be designated Alpha and Bravo for this mission and your objective is to assist ODST forces in their assault on this enemy stronghold. Scans of their computers show that this is fortress is the main defense of their capital. It is defended heavily with AA guns and the we can't bring in Orbital Strikes due to the presence of civilians in the near by cities. You will be dropped here on the outskirts of the base and will focus on clearing these two bunkers here." Stated the Admiral as he pointed at two bunkers on the holographic image o the screen.

"It is imperative that these bunkers are destroyed before we can launch our assault on the main complex. Then you will proceed into the main base and launch an assault together on this structure here…this is what we believe to be the control hub of the various AA guns. After, that we can land heavier units in the base and assault en masse on the Headquarters here as you support the main thrust in any way you can. Are there any questions gentlemen?" asked the Admiral as none of the SPARTANS in room asked a single question.

"Very well…Chief you will be assisting Alpha team in the coming assault. You are all dismissed…I would advise preparing for your next mission!" said Admiral Schneider as each of the SPARTANS snapped a salute and left the room one by one.

"So what can we expect against these Batarians on the ground?" asked a fairly large SPARTAN who was wearing Orange Armor with black shoulder and elbow pads.

"Expect fierce resistance…their guns are more powerful than our standard rifle, but every thing else them seem to lack in terms of firepower and shielding. Reports say that they do take prisoners…but all prisoners are sold into slavery so show them no quarter." Said the LT who was wearing extremely dark green armor with white stripes running down the arms and an N7 designation on his armor something the Master Chief had picked up on.

"You did the N7 unit?" asked Chief suddenly, silencing any conversation that the SPARTANS had been having in the room. "I was aware of the program during the last 5 years of the War. It was said to be only one step below a SPARTAN and it was reserved for non-augmented soldiers. "

"That's true Sir! I was an ODST during the war, but then I enlisted into the N7 program. I fought in several battles at the end of the war including Reach, Installation 04, Earth, and the Arc. When the SPARTAN IV program started I was an excellent candidate for the first series of tests." Stated the LT of the unit as the Chief nodded.

"Don't call me Sir…SPARTANS and friends call me John." Stated John as he stuck his arm out to the LT.

"Then I expect you to call me Shepard…" stated Shepard as he grabbed Johns hand and shook it. "This is my squad…all of them are veterans of the war. The one in Orange is Kreamer "Yo!" the one in the Navy armor is Ellis, and the last in the black and gold armor is Traore." Said Shepard as the last two SPARTAN nodded at the Master Chief.

Kreamer was a large SPARTAN and held a Spartan Laser on his back alongside a fairly large battle rifle. Ellis was the smaller of the three and was wearing what looked like recon armor. He was sporting a Sniper Rifle in his hands with a Battle Rifle on his back. Traore was the slightly larger than Shepard, but smaller than Kreamer and he held twin SMGs and a pair of Assault Rifles on his back.

"Its nice to meet you all…I see that the you SPARTAN IVs get to customize your armor. They didn't dare allow us to do anything of the sort during my time in the war…at least the SPARTAN IIs." Explained John as Shepard nodded.

"They decided that not all SPARTANS fought the same in combat so we were free to have different modifications in our Armor. My armor has an invisibility module built in to it along with an overshield. I'm sure you could have the same done for yours later." Suggested Shepard as they made it to the hanger bay of the Saratoga.

Around them hundreds of ODSTs and Marines were preparing final checks for what would be, for many, their first engagement since the Human/Covenant War. Tensions were high, and when the SPARTANS entered the hanger the entire room quieted down and all activities ceased at once as they all stared at Alpha Team and in particular the Master Chief.

Whispering broke out as many of the men talked about fighting alongside the greatest SPARTAN of all time. Many of them even came up and thanked him for his efforts in the war and the Chief would just nod at them in appreciation.

The Chief or John understood that he was no longer a man in the eyes of the average soldier or civilian. No he was now a symbol that gave hope and courage to all those around him. Perhaps the only ones that didn't treat him any differently now were the few SPARTANS he had met since he woke up from cryo sleep.

The next few hours were spent talking and preparing for the mission and going over any data that the USF had on the Batarian world of Shanxi. Despite the atmosphere of preparing for battle many of the men now felt confident about the outcome, but no one could predict just how far the Batarians were willing to go to win.

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"I cannot follow that order Admiral! Those are our people down there and you want me to kill them? I WONT DO IT!" yelled the Captain of the small flotilla of ships defending Shanxi.

"So be it…Agents relieve this man of his command." Stated the Admiral as three Batarians on the bridge of the Captain's ship stood up and shot the current Captain. "Now XO I hope you are more willing to follow the orders given to you by a superior officer?"

"Y-y-yes Si-Sir!" stuttered out the terrified new Captain of the only Dreadnought in the Shanxi system.

"Good…now remember gentlemen you will all go down in history as the ones that led to Batarian domination of the entire galaxy. Admiral Tarlon out." Finished the Admiral as he shut off the communications relay and turned to the Batarian councilor on the Citadel.

"Are you positive this will work Councilor? I would hate to do this and not have the Council believe us…we are not ready for a war against them yet." Said Tarlon with an edge in his voice.

"I am positive…they wish to appease our empire and will gladly take our side over another unknown species if it guarantees peace between our two species. Then we can sit back and watch our enemies destroy themselves. Then we strike at the Citadel and finish everything!" claimed the councilor as Admiral Tarlon smiled darkly.

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"So it will only take two minutes for your fleet to arrive through the Relay once we call for help? Hopefully that will be soon enough if my fleet finds themselves overrun by the enemy." Said Admiral Schneider to the Sangheili Fleet Master Suyu Vadum.

"If we are needed then my fleet will lay waste to all those that stand against us. Today my species begin to make amends for what we did during the war. My species will always owe humanity for their deeds and our eternal shame." Stated Suyu as Schneider shook his head.

"Your species were tricked by your leaders and you have already begun to make amends. There was no way that we could've rebuilt as quickly as we did without your species help." Retorted Schneider as Suyu shook his head in response.

"Either way humanity has inherited the place of the Forerunners as the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Sangheili will follow your species to that position as its sword and shield if it must!" retorted Suyu with conviction.

"We aren't gods or anything Suyu…to follow us like that may lead your species down yet another dark road one day." Said Schneider as Suyu nodded in acceptance of that.

"Yes that would be very realistic fear…if your species was even capable of that. During the war humanity did the impossible and fought us for every inch of space possible despite being outnumbered and outgunned by a superior government. Yet, you fought on and when you finally won you decided to help our species and forgive despite our crimes. Those are the main reasons we now work with you and formed this alliance and we shall honor it until not a single Sangheili remains!" stated Suyu with conviction as Schneider nodded.

"I'm glad to hear it for neither will we ever break our alliance. Now lets get this show on the road. The second you have left the Saratoga we will go through the relay." Stated Schneider as he looked out the window of the 80 ship UCA Fleet of Reconciliation.

"Hopefully your fleet will not need mine in the end. When will the 2nd UNSC fleet arrive in the system?" asked Suyu curiously.

"The 138 ships of the 2nd Fleet will be here in just one week. Then we have the USF 4th fleet arriving in 4 days with 112 Human and Sangheili ships all combined into a single fleet. There are rumors that our fleets will be merged soon too if the USF continues to gain acceptance from our populace." Answered Schneider.

"Then I look forward to that day Admiral. May you find honor in battle!" said Suyu as he put his hand on his chest and bowed towards Schneider.

"Likewise Fleet Master." Answered Schneider with a salute of his own as Suyu left the bridge of the Saratoga. "Taylor…alert all ships to prepare to jump!"

"It is done Admiral!" answered Taylor after only a second of work.

"Order all ships into the relay…hopefully I can force these Batarians into surrendering!" ordered the Admiral as his large fleet started to hit the relay.  
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"Captain! The Relay is giving off massive energy readings!" yelled a Batarian service men as the captain of defense fleets 12 ship fleet sighed in acceptance of what was about to come.

"Very well…this is for the good of the Hegemony. Prepare the Mass accelerators and aim…for Palax and its main cities." Said the captain as many of the crew gasped in horror and shock.

"What! I refuse! My family is down ther…" the Batarian was unable to finish as the guards on the bridge quickly ended his life.

"This is for the good of the Hegemony…now aim for the colonies and fire!" ordered the captain as his Dreadnoughts Mass Accelerator fired at the Palax's capital. He watched with trepidation as the round connected with the cities center with a force equal to that of a few nuclear warheads.

Many of his crew looked at him murderously, but he cared little for what they thought as the alien fleet had finally arrived around the Relay. The fleet stood at 65 ships strong with nothing smaller than a council cruiser and with weapons more powerful than anything the Batarians had. There was also the massive 15 KM ship that alone could decimate any small fleet.

"Sir…all targets have been destroyed. What are we to do now?" asked his second in command.

"Now we pray that our people didn't die in vain…" muttered the captain as he watched balls of blue energy race towards his small fleet and destroy every single ship right after the other until his was the only one left and he watched as his ship exploded into a fiery explosion.

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"Admiral! The enemy fleet…reports claim that they destroyed their own cities…millions dead just like that!" yelled Taylor as Admiral Schneider closed his eyes in sorrow.

"What type of people will just sacrifice their own people like that? Are the military installations on the planet still operational?" asked the Admiral.

"Yes Admiral, the enemy seems to think that their military might be able to hold us off long enough to receive reinforcements. However, them attacker their cities worries me greatly…there has to be a reason for doing so." Stated Taylor as the Admiral nodded in agreement.

"True…scan for any other Relay's in the area. Chances are they will receive more forces from that relay. Once found monitor the relay and alert me if anything comes through. All ships move into position above the planet and commence orbital operations to take the planet!" ordered Admiral Schneider as his Flagship Saratoga took position at the center of the fleet orbiting above the planet.

"I have found yet another Relay Admiral…it is about thirty minutes away using Slipspace and it is in another system with another habitable planet. My guess is that the Batarians have yet another colony there even larger than this one." Explained Taylor as Admiral Schneider nodded.

"Interesting…call the Fleet of Reconciliation. Tell them it is time for them to get into this war. They will support our ground forces while we move to secure that relay and clear the skies of this other colony." Stated the Admiral as Taylor nodded.

"It is done Admiral…the Fleet of Reconciliation is on its way through the Relay as we speak." Taylor replied as the Admiral looked out one of the view ports of the bridge and watched as hundreds of Pelicans, Sabres, and Shortswords descended upon the planet below.

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"We demand that this Council does something about this new species! They attacked our planet of Palax after activating their Mass Relay! If you don't do something soon then many people will die!" yelled the Batarian councilor as he glared at the three main councilors.

"Councilor please don't be so hasty. We just want to understand why this race would just suddenly attack your colony. Surely they must have at least attempted to contact your fleet before they attacked?" said Tevos the Asari councilor.

"Attempted? Have you seen the reports that we received from Palax from one of our few remaining bases? They fired mass accelerators at civilian centers and murdered millions of civilians! Then they decimated the fleet that we sent to expel the enemy from our borders!" yelled the Batarian as the councilors all looked at each other unable to speak words.

It was then that a Batarian soldier rushed into the room with a datapad. He quickly ran to the Batarian Ambassador, who quickly read the message with a straight face before it suddenly contorted into rage.

"We have lost contact with Horizon! That colony is responsible for a large percentage of food for our people! Not to mention the millions on the planet that are civilians! We have to do something before they destroy the planet!" yelled the Batarian as Tevos raised her hand to silence him.

"Very well the council will debate whether or not it is appropriate to send a combined council fleet to expel these aliens." She stated as the three councilors all turned to each other all speaking too quietly to be heard by any other in the room.

After what seemed like an eternity the councilors all turned towards the Batarian Ambassador, who had somehow managed to remain patient the whole time. Sparatus, the Turian Councilor walked forward and stared at the Batarian.

"It has been decided that the council will be helping the Batarians in repelling these invaders, but we will go no further until we have an idea of what we are facing. The Turians will be sending the 7th Fleet, Asari 2nd Fleet, and the Salarian 9th fleet to deal with this threat along with any ships the Batarians can offer." Stated Sparatus as the Batarian nodded.

"We have the 6th Fleet already heading to the Hesphos Relay to defend it from any fleet that comes through. If your fleets could meet the 6th fleet there then we should have enough strength to beat back these hostiles!" stated the Batarian as he turned and left the room with his bodyguards following him.

Once he had left the Council Chambers and made it to his office the Ambassador walked over to a communicator and called whoever was on the other line. "Admiral Tarlon…the council has agreed to help us with our war. They are sending 270 ships to expel this enemy." Said the Ambassador as Tarlon appeared as a hologram.

"Good…they have fallen into our trap. Now we just have to sit on the sidelines and watch how these two species destroy each other…then we can claim our title as the Supreme Species of the Galaxy!" claimed the Admiral as the Ambassador smiled.

"I have also gotten many of the Terminus Fleets to agree to aid our people when it is time to fight the Council. They will not know what hit them until it is too late!" laughed the Ambassador as Tarlon nodded.

"Very well…I have things to attend to. Ensure the Council remains on our side or everything will be lost." Ordered Tarlon as the Ambassador nodded.

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The Chief stared down the barrel of his sniper rifle as he continued to pick off targets with great accuracy quickly as his fellow SPARTANS advanced on the turrets defending yet another installation on the planet Palax.

It was the third base they had hit since the invasion had started and he couldn't help but be pleased in how well the UNSC had been fighting against this enemy. It seemed that when humanity went against a species, that didn't outmatch them in nearly every way, humans were quite effective.

Now here he was leading a team of SPARTANS in an assault to control a couple of databases in the fort that were deemed to be of utmost importance. It was one of the only databases that the AIs were unable to hack so they had to secure the servers manually or else risk losing the data.

"This is Bravo Team! We have set the charges at the eastern turret! What is the status of the Western turret Alpha team?" asked a SPARTAN on Bravo team.

"This is Alpha! We have set the explosive and are now Cock block and ready to rock!" yelled Shepherd into his radio as he gunned down a trio of Batarians with his DMR.

"Roger! We are blowing the tower in 3…2..1…Boom!" yelled the SPARTAN as the eastern turret exploded, followed shortly by the western turret.

"This is Alpha Team, the turrets are down! Send in the marines and air support! We are moving in now!" yelled the Master Chief as he and the five other SPARTANS of Alpha moved on to their next objective as Pelicans and Shortswords flew over head.

"Let's move SPARTANS! We are infiltrating through a service tunnel underneath this turret!" yelled Shepard as he opened a panel under the floor of a small maintenance room.

The squad descended into the dark confines of the service tunnel and quickly made their way to the HQ of the fort. If the servers that they needed were real then they would most likely be there. Explosions, gunfire, and the roar of artillery vibrated through the tunnel muffled by a few inches of steel and titanium.

"Contact!" yelled Kreamer as he opened fire upon a group of Batarian soldiers. They stood little chance as their barriers were overwhelmed with fire from the accurate SPARTANS.

It continued that way for what seemed like several miles as they made their way through the tunnels and into the inner confines of the base. The Batarians eventually got around to sending every available soldier they could at the six man team, but the SPARTANS tore through them as if they were paper.

"Chief! This is the Control Room!" shouted Traore as he took position at a console on the side of the door. With that the whole squad lined up to cover him as he began to work at the console.

"I am getting a call from the Saratoga! I am patching them to you Chief!" stated Ellis as the Chief's radio came to life.

"Chief you have to hurry. The information in that room could be the difference between life and death for hundreds of thousands of people! As soon as the information is retrieved, have Cortana analyze it and send it to me at…hold on we have a situation here. I will call you back again soon…I'm needed at the Helm." Stated Admiral Schneider as the comms went dead.

"Traore! Get that door opened now! That information must survive!" ordered the Chief as Traore began to type faster.

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"Have all ships form up on the Saratoga…if there is a fleet coming through then we will be ready." Ordered Admiral Schneider as he stared intently at the Mass Relay before his fleet.

"All ships are moving into position and the Fleet of Reconciliation is forming up around our very own Relay." Stated Taylor as the Admiral shook his head.

"Delay that movement. Have them hide behind the gas giant orbiting around the sun here." Ordered the Admiral as he gestured at a large gas giant. "Have them hide in the magnetic field there…chances are the fleet coming through won't be able to sense our fleet."

"Order sent Admiral…what's the plan here?" asked Taylor hesitantly.

"We will hold fire until the enemy fires upon us. We will try one last attempt at negotiating before we go to all out war. I want to avoid further blood shed if possible." Answered the Admiral multiple signatures started appearing on the radar.

"Contact! 340 military ships have just entered the system via the Relay! They are forming up and advancing onto our fleet! Should I send the contact package?" asked Taylor urgently.

"Send the package and have all ships go to red alert! I don't want to be caught with our hands down our pants!" ordered the Admiral as he and his crew watched the numerically superior fleet slowly approach his own fleet.

"Package has been sent…the enemy fleet has entered weapons range of their weapons and has come to an halt! We may not have to fight after all!" exclaimed Taylor with awe.

This sent every soldier on the bridge into a round of applause and cheers as the threat of combat was suddenly lifted from their shoulders, but one man in the room just continued to stare at the enemy fleet.

"Silence! I all men get back to your stations…I will not have celebrations until we have met with their leaders and declared a ceasefire!" ordered the Admiral as everyman quickly went back to their stations.

"Do you really think they will attack?" whispered Taylor.

"I hope not…" replied Schneider.

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"Admiral! We have received a message from the enemy fleet! Should I open it?" asked a Turian soldier on one of the consoles on the Turian Dreadnought Victorious.

"What! Destroy that message! These things killed millions on Shanxi! They must be totally destroyed!" yelled a Batarian Captain who was advising on the Victorious.

"Silence! Perhaps this was nothing more than a misunderstanding. Have all ships stop with in range of the enemy ships, but do not open fire or lower kinetic barriers. We will look at this message and act accordingly ordered the Turian Admiral.

"This is not what the Council agreed to! I will not stand for this! Open fire and kill these things…we have them outnumbered 6 to 1! If we wait any longer then more of them will arrive!" yelled the Batarian as he stormed up to the Turian Admiral.

"Stand down now! I was put in command of this fleet…not you Batarian!" reprimanded the Turian Admiral. "Ensign play that message on the bridge!"

The Batarian glared at the Turian Admiral and with a growl turned away from him and stormed out of the bridge as quickly as he could. As soon as he was outside the bridge he pushed a button on his uniform. "This is Captain Zos…open fire in 25 seconds…" with that the Batarian walked into the bridge while still glaring at the Turian Admiral.

"Is the message ready?" asked the Admiral as the Ensign from before nodded.

"Yes Sir! They have already translated…playing now!" answered the Ensign as he began to play the message.

"**Greetings! This is Fleet Admiral Schneider of the United Species Federation or the USF. We do not wish for fighting to continue and would like to open negotiations for a ceasefire to be commenced immediately. However, we will not be negotiating with any Batarian…they sta…"** The message was suddenly cut off as an officer suddenly shouted in surprise.

"Admiral! Twenty ships have just opened fire on the enemy fleet! They claim to have been given orders to attack directly from the Council!" yelled the officer as the Admiral eye's widened in horror.

"NO! All men report to battle stations! Send a message to the Citidel immediately! Tell them that this species isn't hostile!" ordered the Admiral.

"Sir! Long range communications have just been shut down!" yelled the officer in panic.

"What? How? Do you have anything to do with this Batarian?" asked the Admiral as he turned to glare at the smiling Batarian.

"With my death a new age will come forth with the Batarians at their rightful place in the galaxy!" he said with excitement as he lifted a detonator.

"THIS IS OUR TIME!" yelled the Batarian as he pressed the button and suddenly the whole ship was rocked with explosions till nothing, but scrap remained.

Watching from the viewport of his new Dreadnought Admiral Tarlon smiled as he watched the Turian Dreadnought blow up from the inside. "Get me comms to the fleet. This is Admiral Tarlon…the enemy has fired upon and destroyed Admiral Septmus's ship along with all hands on board! Open fire and show them that we won't tolerate their cruelty!" yelled the Admiral as he every ship in range opened fire on the enemy.

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"Admiral! Some of their ships opened fire on our fleet! No hull damage…what are your orders?" asked Taylor as the Admiral pondered his choices.

"Maybe that was just an accident…it was afterall only a few ships." Reasoned the Admiral, but then he saw what seemed to be the enemy flagship explode in a brilliant explosion.

"Admiral the rest of the fleet has opened fire!" yelled Taylor as Schneider quickly responded.

"All Ships open fire with everything you have!" yelled Schneider as 65 MAC rounds and hundreds of plasma torpedoes streaked toward the enemy fleet. "Power up the Energy Projectors!"

Lights lit up the space between the two fleets as they fired volley after volley at each other with no side willing to back down. It was quality over quantity in the fight as the USF ships were able to absorb massive amounts of punishment and still stay in combat and they were able to dish out more damage compared to the smaller, but more maneuverable ships of the Council.

It was clear from the beginning who would win the fight though as the USF fleet was completely outgunned by the numerically superior council forces. Despite suffering massive casualties the Council fleets closed the distance and focused mainly on the Cruisers, Destroyers, and Frigates of the fleet.

"Admiral! The enemy fleet is moving to block us off from our escape route! If we are going to survive this battle then we must secure our escape!" exclaimed Taylor as Schneider nodded.

"Very well…I want the Maginot and the Infinity to head out first with what ever remaining Cruisers and Frigates we have left! We will secure the rear with whatever destroyers are left! Let's move gentlemen!" ordered the Admiral as the fleet began to escape.

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"Sir! The enemy is trying to retreat! If we don't close off that gap they will succeed!" yelled a Batarian as Tarlon growled.

"Have that Salarian Battlegroup there jump to that location to stall the enemy fleet while we close in for the kill!" ordered Tarlon as the Batarian nodded.

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The Saratoga shook with every round that impacted its shields as the massive shield covered every ship it could from the approaching 200 ship enemy fleet. "Sir! Shields can't last much longer!"

"What of the Maginot and Infinity? Did they escape along with their escorts?" asked the Admiral.

"Yes Sir! All ships made it out of the net and the Destroyers are currently crossing the line no…Sir a part of the enemy fleet has just cut us off from our destroyer escort! Shields are at 15%!" reported Taylor as the Admiral sighed.

"At least our boys made it to safety…okay men! Let's push through these Bastards! If we are to go down then let us take every single one of them down with us!" yelled Schneider as his men all cheered as the 5.6 Kilometer ship crashed into the lines of the 36 Salarian ships.

"Shields are collapsing! If we don't do something soon then the ship is doomed!" yelled out Taylor as the Saratoga took several rounds to it's thick armor.

"I guess this is truly my final hour…" whispered Schneider as he closed his eyes.

"USF Saratoga this is the USF Will of Earth! My crew has decided that we didn't kill enough enemies during our engagement so were coming back! We'll smash through their lines…that should give you just enough time to get away!" yelled a voice over the ships comms.

"Negative! USF Will of Earth! You will break off your current course and rendezvous with the fleet over Shanxi!" yelled Schneider with anger.

"With all due respect Admiral…go screw yourself! Just don't let our sacrifice be in vain!" retorted the Captain of the Will of Earth.

"Damn you…" whispered Schneider as determination returned to his eyes. "You heard the man! Make way for the hole in their lines!" ordered Schneider as the Saratoga passed through the lines of Council ships that were now concentrating on the Will of Earth.

The last moments before the ship entered slipspace the Admiral watched as the Will of Earth fired round after round at the enemy fleet, destroying many before it finally succumbed to the enemy and exploded in a glorious explosion.

"God bless you and your men…Son…" said the Admiral sadly as the Saratoga entered Slipspace.

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AWW SAD CHAPTER! IT SEEMS THAT THE USF ISN'T UNBEATABLE…IT JUST TAKES A WHOLE LOT OF SHIPS….SOMETHING THAT THE COUNCIL CAN DO AS THEY MOSTLY RELY ON QAUNTITY OVER QAULITY!

DON'T WORRY THOUGH! THE BATARIANS WILL GET WHATS COMING TO THEM IN THE LATER CHAPTERS!


	3. Chapter 3

Here we are the third story that I have now decided to name The Fires of War! This will span to the Reaper Invasion where there will be many epic space battles! However, the story will follow around 5 main arcs with the first being the Batarian Escalation War, followed shortly by integration into a new galactic unity. Then we will get into Shepard's main part of the story, but it will be done much differently than the Canon. Then Mass Effect 2…if I decide to have Shepard killed. Then there will be the war with the Reapers!

Well enough talking here is the next chapter of the story!

"What is the status of the fleet?" asked Admiral Schneider in a somber tone.

"We lost over half our frigates, half our destroyers, and a third of our Cruisers Admiral! Data taken from the battle indicate that their fleet lost ¼ of their numbers." Stated Taylor as the Admiral nodded.

"32 out 76 Ships are all that remains of my fleet. So many men lost their lives just so those Batarians can seize power!" yelled Schneider as he looked over the data that the SPARTANS had retrieved from Shanxi.

"Admiral Battlegroup Harvest has arrived and is awaiting orders! They have 4 Cruisers, 2 Destroyers, and 8 Frigates Sir!" stated Taylor as Schneider nodded.

"Have them form up on our fleet! We only have 10 minutes till the enemy arrives! Is the Fleet of Reconciliation ready?" asked the Admiral as Taylor nodded.

"They are Admiral! The Fleet Master has his fleet ready to jump in the second the enemy fleet closes in on your ships!" stated Taylor as Schneider nodded.

"Good…now we wait for our enemy. They won't know what hit them when they meet the full might of the USF!" declared Schneider.

"Admiral…I'm sorry about your son." Stated Taylor softly.

"It's okay Taylor…he always did believe in a noble death. He wouldn't of had it any other way and I will honor him by winning this battle in the name of peace!" declared Schneider as his crew's spirits lifted slightly at his words.

"Sir we are getting a message from command!" stated Taylor as Schneider nodded in acknowledgement.

"Bring them up! Admiral Hood Sir!" Schneider saluted to the admiral before him on the holo vid.

"I heard your fleet ran into quite a bit of trouble Admiral! You just have to hold out a little longer and you will have the support of three USF fleets all ready for offensive operations against these new alien aggressors. I'm sorry about your son Admiral…he was a good man." Said Hood as Schneider nodded.

"Thank you Sir! We will hold this planet Sir! I promise you that!" Schneider declared as Hood nodded.

"Good! Hood out!" said Hood as Schneider saluted him one last time.

"Admiral! The enemy is exiting FTL!" shouted Taylor.

"All ships prepare for combat! This time we win!" said Schneider as the enemy fleet of around 250 ships now closed in on his fleet of 42 ships. "Open fire!"

The USF fleet opened fire the second the Council fleet was in range and gutted a large grouping of shits in the initial volley. However, the enemy had more than enough numbers to make up for their losses and opened fire on the USF fleet.

"Admiral they are pressing in closer to our fleet…soon they will be in position for the trap to be sprung!" stated Taylor as the Admiral nodded.

"What is the status of our ships?" asked the Admiral.

"They are holding up well, but it won't be long before our ships begin to buckle from the onslaught of the enemy fire!" claimed Taylor.

The USF ships fought valiantly against the massive fleet, but were now starting to crack under the combined firepower of the Citadel fleet. "Admiral! My fleet is in position to surround the enemy fleet!"

"Good! Jump in now before any more of my fleet dies!" ordered Schneider as he watched a cruiser explode due to multiple MAC rounds impacting its hull.

"Copied Admiral! May the gods smile upon you Reclaimer!" responded the Fleet Master as the Covenant Fleet jumped in right behind the Council fleet that was now at 182 ships while the human USF fleet stood at 31 battered ships.

However, the 54 ship Covenant USF fleet jumped in right on top of the council fleet and opened fire on the significantly smaller ships of the Council fleet. The Covenant fleet has one super carrier and five assault carrier along with numerous cruisers, destroyers, and Corvettes.

Plasma torpedoes and missiles traced across space and easily tore apart large amounts of enemy ships. The plasma weapons completely bypassed the council ships and would eat way at the hulls of the ships. Many of the ships weren't built to deal with the damage done by the plasma weaponry and exploded in massive fireballs.

The Council fleet was thrown in complete disarray as the tables were suddenly turned. The numerous ships of the council spread out in panic as they all started to fire in panic at what every ship was closest to them.

"Let's finish this battle! Have all Cruisers and the Infinity target their Dreadnoughts! Have the Maginot launch the rest of their squadrons and harass the enemy fleet!" ordered the Admiral as the ships of his fleet opened fire at once and decimated a small group of ships that had managed to regroup.

"Admiral the enemy fleet is attempting to retreat!" stated Taylor as the Admiral saw two different parts of the fleet branch off and try to clear the USF fleet and escape.

"Don't let the Batarian ships escape! If they escape then there will be no telling what they will do!" commanded the admiral as the UNSC ships concentrated their fire upon the 24 Batarian ships that were trying to escape the battle. Similarly the Covenant ships stopped firing upon the rest of the Council ships that numbered around 28 ships and started to fire solely upon the Batarian fleet.

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"Matriarch! The enemy ships are concentrating their fire on the Batarians! They are completely ignoring us now! Should we turn around and help the Batarians?" yelled out an helmsmen on the Destiny's Ascension. The ship was normally the flagship of the council fleet, but was sanctioned to be used in the assault to impress upon the Councils new enemies.

However, they did not anticipate such ships as the Saratoga, Infinity, and Maginot to have been so powerful. The Council fleet quickly learned that even the smallest of the enemy ships were powerful enough to destroy a Dreadnought in one on one combat.

"No…something isn't right about this battle. I fear we made a grave mistake in allowing the Batarians to have the second in command position…also we must warn the council of an impending attack." Stated the Matriarch as the Council fleet escaped the blockade of USF ships.

"How can anything that big even fly? It doesn't even have Element Zero readings…Goddess help us all!" cried out a crewmember aboard the Ascension. The Matriarch couldn't help agree with her,

"Quiet! Every ship has a weakness and we will find one…we just have to make it back to council space!" commanded the Matriarch.

"The fleet has cleared the enemy! Preparing for FTL travel now!" shouted the Helmsmen.

"Jump and set course for the Relay!" shouted the Matriarch as the severely weakened Council fleet.

With out the remaining council ships, minus the Batarians escaped the battle and made way for Relay 314 to warn the council of the dangers of the superior USF ships. While they escaped the few remaining Batarian ships were trying their best to escape the deathtrap set by the USF.

"Admiral! Kinetic Barriers are failing! If we don't do something soon then the next hit will shatter the ship!" yelled a man as the last remaining Dreadnought of the Batarian fleet in the combined fleet shook after being struck by a MAC round.

"Execute the Dawn Protocol…there is no other option! Prep the ship for jump as soon as the Protocol is executed." Stated Admiral Tarlon as his XO started typing into a keyboard.

"We have 10 seconds till detonation…ship is ready to jump!" yelled out the XO as Tarlon nodded.

"This may be a defeat this day, but in the end these things will met their destruction by our hands. Get us out of here." Stated Tarlon as the Dreadnought executed an emergency FTL jump as the remaining ships in the fleet all blew up as their Mass Effect cores were remotely activated to cause as much destruction as possible to the USF fleet.

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"Admiral the enemy flagship has escaped and we are picking massive…oh my god! The enemy ships have all destabilized!" cried out Taylor as the 18 Batarian ships all exploded in massive explosions…they weren't strong enough to destroy any USF ships, but it was enough to ensure that they didn't pursue the enemy.

"That ship escaped again? Damn it! Can we pursue?" asked the Admiral as the the AI shook her head.

"I wouldn't recommend it…the fleet has suffered major damage and it is unknown what lies by the relay. Best course of action would be to wait for the USF fleets to arrive which shouldn't be long now." Stated Taylor as Schneider nodded.

"What sort of ships will be expecting from the fleets?" asked Schneider as Taylor quickly replied.

"The USF 5th Fleet will consist of one UNSC Maginot Super Carrier, 2 Reach Class Battleships, 2 Infinity Class Battlecruisers, and a number of Cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. Along side that their will be 1 CSF Super Carrier, 8 Assault Carriers, and numerous cruisers, Battlecruisers, destroyers, frigates, Corvettes. The 7th Fleet is by all readings the largest fleet ever fielded by the USF…it consists of 80 Frigates, 40 Destroyers, 30 Cruisers, one Super Carrier, 6 Carriers, 6 Battleships, and two Battlecruisers. That is just the UNSC portion of the fleet…the CSF numbers at 50 Corvettes, 30 Frigates, 20 Destroyers, 20 Cruisers, 10 Battlecruisers, 6 Assault Carriers, and two Super Carriers. This brings the total number of ships in the 7th Fleet to 303 and an army of over 3,500,000 soldiers. The 12th Fleet's numbers are unknown, but they are coming to reinforce our fleet and then to await further orders." Stated Taylor as the Admiral's eyes went wide at the mention of the two massive fleets that were coming through the relay in only a couple of hours. However, questions still needed to be asked.

"What's a battleship? I was under the impression that they were discontinued during the Great War when they were too impractical?" asked the Admiral.

"The Reach Class Battleships have only recently been released from drydock and information has only now just been released. They are 3.8 KMs long and are equipped with one super MAC, two standard MACs, 30 300 mm Cannons for close range ship combat, about 100Plasma Torpedo and Missiles bays, thousands of pulse laser turrets, and 140 50 mm Cannons, two energy projectors, and last 14 Shiva Nuclear Missiles,. The Reach Class ships are built for only one purpose and that is to completely destroy any enemy fleet." Stated Taylor as Schneider whistled.

"I wouldn't want to ever go up against a fleet like that…" stated Schneider as Taylor nodded.

"Indeed…"

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"What do you mean the fleet was outmatched? That was one of the largest fleets we have ever used! There is no way that this race could've outgunned it!" shouted Sparatus in anger and fear.

Valern, the Salarian councilor, shook his head in denial and whispered under his breath as he contemplated how they had yet another Rachni Situation. Tevos, the Asari councilor was light headed and swaying a bit from what she learned of the battle.

"We must muster the fleets and put all our resources into war! We have to end this now before more lives are lost! The Turian Fleets have already began to mass over Palavan and the Batarians are already massing their entire fleet!" shouted Sparatus.

"I am not sure if that is the wisest choice…maybe we can still negotiate! These reports from the battle are strange and don't seem entirely accurate. What happened to the fleets flagship? Most of the ships didn't even report the enemy firing…" stated Tevos as Valern nodded.

"Indeed, but this species obviously has much more advanced warships than ours. They could've easily have used a weapon that was undetectable to our sensors. Not only that, but their largest ships did possess weapons that could destroy a Dreadnought in only one shot. However, the chance does exist that the Dreadnought was sabotaged." Stated Valern quickly as he began to run over the chances of that being true.

"Listen to yourselves! If they hadn't fired then why wouldn't they just surrender? We have to attack now before more of our worlds fall!" argued Sparatus in anger as he glared at Tevos.

"I am only just stating the possibility Sparatus…the Asari Republic has already called all units and ships back to staging areas. When this new species decides to attack the Asari will be ready to defend council space." Stated Tevos as she stared impassively at Sparatus.

"As are the Salarian people. STG teams have already been deployed to key locations around the Relay in order to watch for the enemy fleet. Furthermore the Salarian Union is sending a fleet of our most advanced warships to help in the defense of our space." Added Valern as Sparatus nodded.

"What of the species? The Volus, Elcor, and Hanar can provide soldiers and ships to the effort. We should work to have them support our fleets in combat!" suggested Sparatus as Tevos nodded.

"We will ask for their help, but not now. We must act like we can handle this situation or other the other species will lose faith in us." Stated Tevos as the other two councilors nodded in agreement.

"What have we gathered concerning their weapons compared to ours?" asked Sparatus as Valern looked over his datapad.

"They are much more powerful than ours, but the recharge time gives us quite the advantage when we are closer together. However, their plasma weaponry has no equal among our fleet and this ally of the our enemies is quite the problem!" stated Valern as Tevos sighed.

"Things aren't looking good at all…one of the enemy ships was reported to be 27 Kilometers in length. That's nearly half the length of the citadel itself and that's not even including the larger ships these humans used against us!" Tevos muttered with weariness as more and more odds were stacked against the Citadel.

"Don't give up hope yet Tevos! Ships like that cannot be massed produced, but ours can! We will overrun our enemies with numbers if we must and the Turian Hierarchy has already begun to mass produce ships and weapons for the coming war!" stated Sparatus calmly as Valern started to type into his datapad.

"Calculations figure that it will take several weeks before most of Citadel space will be prepared to enter a large war with this power. However, the chances of this race being ready are just as bad…I theorize the enemy will only be ready to attack in one month or two." Added Valern as Tevos looked at him in confusion.

"How can you know that information?" she asked, confused by his proclamation.

"Just theories on how large the enemy ships are. Ships that size must take quite a while to build and their area of the Galaxy doesn't have many relays according the Relay network. This says that their resources are scarce on their planets and their population cannot be anywhere near ours in size. Surely they will not be able to last long against us in a large war." Affirmed Valern as the two other councilors nodded.

"Either way the Turian 2nd Fleet is reroute to the Citadel to ensure its safety. The fleet is smaller than a normal fleet, but combined with the fleet already here their will be 215 ships defending the Citadel. Not to mention the numerous other shps that will be defending the relays leading to the Citadel." Added Sparatus as they all began to debate different strategies to end the war.

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"What information do we have on the species and defenses of the Citadel?" asked President Cole as he stared at a general assembly of the most high-ranking personal of the USF including his own personal Avatar.

Across the room an old, but yet imposing man stood up. He was dressed in a white navy uniform that was covered in numerous medals and badges and his face held a certain awareness about it that betrayed his age. "Mr. President these new enemies of ours are at a severe disadvantage against our combined forces." He stated in a strong and bold voice that fit perfectly with his commanding appearance.

President Cole looked at the man with a small smile tugging at his lips. "What makes you believe this Supreme Admiral Hood? I was under the impression that their ships can be quite dangerous to ours?" he asked as the Admiral huffed at that question.

Hood was spared from answering when Rtas 'Vadum stood up in his polished silver armor. "They outnumbered the defending ships by an extremely large number and still were defeated in open combat! Given the information from the battle our ships have stronger weapons, defenses, strategies, and a more effective form of travel than these species that rely on the Mass Relays." Stated Rtas as the others in the room nodded.

"Very well…what about the species in this Council? Are their any that pose a threat in particular and are their any other species that might hold a grudge with the council?" asked the President as another Sangheili stood up. He was covered in an elegant purple cloak and looked rather intimidating.

"Is it wise to accept the aid of any council race in this war? We shouldn't bring these nations into this war…" stated Thel Vadum…leader of the Sangheili and perhaps one of the most influential beings in the universe.

"Perhaps, but we have learned that some of their technology is in some ways more effective then ours. The two species that have the highest chance of working with us would be perhaps the Qaurians and the Krogan. Both species were betrayed by the council when other courses of action could've resolved the issues in a better way. However, both species present a risk with working with them." Stated one of the Presidents Cabinet members.

"What are the risks of working with these species and how did the council betray them?" asked President Cole in curiosity.

"The Krogans are a species that was uplifted by the Salarians in order combat a race of insects known as the Rachni…they pushed the Council races back and the Krogan presented a way to effectively combat the Rachni. After the Krogan eradicated the Rachni, there was nothing to stop the rise in the Krogan population and the two went to war that eventually forced the council to unleash the Genophage upon the Krogan. The Genophage is disorder the results in 1 in 1000 births to be successful…the rest are still born." Stated the man as the rest of the cabinet recoiled in horror at what they had just heard.

"So they forced another species into near extinction because they didn't take into account that Krogan's population would rise that quickly? They should've had protocols made to ensure that the Krogan were ready to be integrated into galactic society. What would our chances be of recruiting them to the USF and what would it take?" asked President Cole.

"The Krogan value strength above all else and their clans flock to those that are strong. However, that also leads to many disadvantages, as the Clans will mostly tend not to work together. But Gene Therapy Scientists have already begun to look for a cure to this Genophage…to a certain extent as per your orders to look into any advantages that may be needed in this war. The one we have begun working on will cure the deaths of infants, but slow the birthrate down to 1/10th of what it originally was." The man stated as the President nodded.

"I want it finished ASAP and what of the Qaurians? What problems would adding them to the USF represent for us?" asked President Cole.

"I am quite curious myself…from what I have read of the Qaurians is that they were betrayed completely by the Council and lost all of their planets and have no where to go. A matter of fact there is a system between both Sangheili and Human space that has two habitable planets for their species…would they not jump for an opportunity for planets to settle?" asked Thel Vadum as the Cabinet member shook his head.

"That would be true, but the Qaurians more than likely hold a hate for any AI as it was the Geth that killed most of their species and evicted them from their home world. However, if pressured there is a good chance that they will join the USF." Stated the man as President Cole and Thel Vadum nodded.

"What of Admiral Schneider's fleet? The battle destroyed over half the ships that participated in the battle and many men died?" asked Admiral Hood as many in the room started muttering about Schneider.

"Have him hold his position and receive reinforcements…I think it is time we reformed the 12th fleet. Tell him that he will receive command of the fleet and once ready he will play a major role in fighting the Batarians." Stated the President as the rest nodded.

"Indeed, Admiral Schneider fought with honor and showed what it truly meant to be a leader during the battle. Even despite him losing his son he fought with a level head and won the day." Stated Thel Vadum.

"Now…how do you all think we should repay these Batarians?" asked the President as everyone one in the USF Council room smiled in anticipation.

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"I've been promoted the Fleet Admiral?" asked Schneider in surprise as Lord Hood smiled at the man.

"Indeed Admiral…the USF has ordered your fleet to merge with the 12th fleet and you will take command of the fleet. Your standing orders are to patrol the relay and make sure nothing comes through while we gather our forces." Relayed Hood as Schneider nodded.

"So we will be attacking soon then? There is absolutely no way to achieve peace?" asked Schneider as Hood shook his head in a negative fashion.

"I'm afraid not…there is a good chance that this Citadel Council sees us as the aggressor now. However, that may change soon…the 5th and 7th Fleets have already received their objectives and will be moving out soon to deal a major blow to the Batarians." Stated Hood as Schneider nodded.

"Very well Sir!" said Schneider as he cut the holo vid feed with Lord Hood and turned to Taylor. "Well that was unexpected…"

"Indeed, but I believe the promotion is fitting for you Admiral. So I'm guessing you will be moving your command to one of the new Reach Class Battleships?" asked Taylor as Admiral Schneider shook his head.

"No…the Reach Class ships aren't meant for leading a fleet. They are built purely for combat while this ship provides me with exactly everything I need and one of the best AIs in the USF." Replied Schneider with a smirk.

"Ahh Admiral you really know how to complement a girl!" Taylor replied cheerfully as the Admiral smiled.

"Will you be able to maintain the ship? I haven't had much sleep in the past few days…" trailed off the Admiral as Taylor nodded in reply. "Let me know if anything important comes up."

Schneider exited the bridge as everyone of the men working on the bridge saluted the admiral as he made his way off the bridge. It didn't take long for the Admiral to make it to his room and where he sat on his bed and grabbed a picture frame containing a picture of a younger Admiral Schneider, his wife, and three boys all in their teens sat outside smiling at the camera.

"Why must there always be war…" Schneider muttered as a stray tear made its way down his cheeks as he turned a laid on the bed and quickly fell asleep with the picture clutched to his chest.

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"Your orders are to proceed through Slipspace to this Batarian Planet known as Paz. Paz is known in their space as the center of their galactic might and that is why the 7th Fleet will be the fleet leading the assault for there may be as many as 500 Batarian ships defending the planet. You will also have numerous battle groups in reserve if they are needed, but their primary roles will be the defense of the troop transports and equipment needed for a planetary assault." Stated the Holographic form of Lord Hood as he stared at the Admiral who would be leading the massive 7th Fleet.

"It shall be done Lord Hood! My honor demands that these Batarians pay for the crimes they have committed." Stated a Sangheili in Charcoal Gray Fleet Master Armor.

"Good…prepare your men for you have 24 hours before you must move out." Stated Hood as his hologram shut off.

"This will be a battle worth remembering Fleet Master Theum Vadum! We will follow you into hell and back if you wish it." Stated another Sangheili standing behind the Fleet Master.

"I know…I am honored to have a crew such as the one I currently have. Inform the men that we will be moving out in 24 hours. Let them have some fun and relax before they are forced to fight in this war." Stated the Fleet Master as the one Sangheili bowed in understanding.

"It will be done." He stated as he walked away and left the Fleet Master to his thoughts.  
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24 Hours later

The 5th and 12th fleet watched as the largest fleet the USF had ever fielded entered slipspace alongside numerous other battlegroups sent to support the large fleet. Just the sight of that many ships together put courage in the hearts of all who gazed upon it. It was the accumulation of all these species working together to ensure their survival after having been at war only 8 years prior.

It was a new day for the USF and hope shone like a beacon of light in the ever expanding darkness of space. However, they were all unaware of an ancient evil slowly awakening at the far reaches of the galaxy. An evil more terrifying and ancient than even the flood itself…

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Batarian Military World of Paz

Paz was one of the first planets found by the Batarian's after they had begun to first use the Mass Relays. It's habitat allowed for many Batarians to live their and the minerals found on the planet were easily accessible and plenty. The Batarian's quickly turned it into the most important military base in their part of the galaxy and many believed it to be impossible to conquer.

That would be put to the test as hundreds of USF ships jumped out of slipspace, right on top of the disorganized Batarian Fleet. Lights streaked across space and explosions lit up the sky as the USF ships destroyed any Batarian defense standing between them and the planet's surface.

Orbital Cannons fired round after round at the USF fleet, but the powerful shields shrugged them off as if they were nothing. Fighters and bombers attempted launch strikes on the capital ships, but point defense turrets and fighters of their own were much more superior.

The 500-ship fleet of the Batarian Navy was cut down to half in little more than two minutes of battle. The once great defenses of Paz were scattered and burning as the large USF Fleet moved to clear the remaining ships that had managed to regroup.

The Batarian Ground forces were even fairing worse if it was possible. With the navy being defeated so swiftly, the Army had no time to prepare for the enemies first waves.

ODST's, SPARTAN IVs, and Elites dropped in by orbital insertion on strategic targets, inflicting massive damage on the infrastructure of the Batarian Army. Next to follow were the Marines, Rangers, Grunts, more Elites, and Hunters with heavy equipment like tanks and scarabs.

The Batarian positions focused on the main continent, which contained only 12% of the planets population, but it contained about 75% of its industrial building. The Army decided to abandon the main population centers early to protect themselves.

The USF leaders were disgusted by the act as themselves to fend off an invading alien force left those civilians. Granted the USF never targeted civilians so they were left alone as the USF forces quickly closed off any chance for the Batarians to hold the planet.

The battle was over before it even began as the Batarian's were caught with their pants down. They had underestimated the USF and had paid dearly for it with the loss of a powerful fleet and the taking of a strategically important planet.

This also served to give the USF quite an idea of how to fight these Citadel forces. One, the citadel races tended to focus their defenses around the relays, as that was where a normal enemy would appear. Slipspace negated that as the USF didn't need the Relay's to attack any planet. Second, the USF was much more experienced with many forms of warfare as they had just finished fighting a massive war. The last was that the USF had much more powerful military technology that easily decimated anything the Citadel had on hand.

This would dictate Citadel and USF relations for the next ten years, before their differences would be put aside to fight a much more powerful foe!

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WELL HOW DO YOU GUYS LIKE THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS? HUH? PRETTY GOOD RIGHT? WELL I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I WILL NOT BE WRITING ABOUT SHEPARDS ACTIONS DIRECTLY. THIS STORY WILL FOCUS UPON THE MILITARY ACTIONS OF THE USF IN THE WAR WITH THE COUNCIL AND EVENTUALLY THE REAPERS. HOWEVER SHEPARD WILL PLAY A HUGE PART IN THE STORY…HE JUST WON'T BE A MAIN CHARACTER.

AUF WIEDERSEIN


	4. Chapter 4

Yo! So I've had some extremely positive reviews considering Flames of War! I hope you all continue to enjoy the story no matter which direction the story heads in the future.

Now for a reminder I will be going into extreme detail on any character during this story, as it will focus on the politics, battles, and strategies employed by both sides. Then it will go into the Mass Effect games, but not focus on Shepard or the Chief during those times.

When the Reapers arrive you can expect some major battles as the USF will employ their full might to stop the Reapers, while the Council does what they can to just survive.

Now onto the Contact War!

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"That's quite a large fleet." Stated a human officer at the bridge of a fairly large USF Raven Class Stealth Cruiser. It was slightly smaller than a normal Cruiser, but was the first of a new model of stealth ships developed by the USF since the beginning of the war.

The war had reached a certain stagnant as the USF made some rapid gains against the Batarians in the opening stages, but now the Batarians were much more prepared for USF tactics.

Meanwhile the council seemed to be more than willing to sit back and gather it's strength as many outer colonies began to fall to the main fleets of the USF. Knowing that they didn't have the sheer number of ships needed to subdue the Council the USF had only attacked the fringe worlds where a large Council presence wasn't needed.

However, the USF wasn't going to just sit back on there lax policies forever. Already new ships were being built at advanced shipyards outfitted with Forerunner technology reverse engineered from the Forward Unto Dawn with a twist of human ingenuity.

The Raven Class Stealth Cruiser was one of the first ships to be built with the new technology. It's main weapons consisted of numerous hardlight cannons on its hull that could pound through nearly any other ship of it's side. Along with that point defense lasers and missile covered the ship to help engage at closer ranges. The ship was installed with the latest slipspace drives that made it one of the fastest ships in existence, but the most useful part was the way the slipspace portal masked it's own presence.

This particular ship had the important mission of locating the Quarian Migrant Fleet in Council Space and observing it until a small diplomatic fleet could be sent into the system. This particular mission had taken two weeks to find the fleet and another week just observing it while the diplomatic fleet traveled to their location.

"It seems the Qaurians are just about through with this system." Stated an ensign on the bridge as he stared at the 50,000 ship fleet. The ship had at first filled many of the sailors with awe, but now after seeing how patched up the fleet was made it seem as if it couldn't handle even a small USF fleet.

"Sir! We are getting a message from the 235th Battlegroup! They are in position and are asking if they are clear to proceed into the system?" called out a man working on the communications of the ship.

"Disengage the stealth system and broadcast on all available channels our intentions of having a meeting with their fleet." Ordered the captain as his crew began to disengage the ships stealth system.

Immediately the Migrant Fleet began to scatter in panic at the ship that had suddenly appeared within firing range of the fleet. What intelligence had claimed was the Heavy Fleet, moved to shield the rest of the fleet and the larger ships began to approach the Stealth Cruiser.

"Have they received the message?" asked the Captain as his comms officer kept laboring away at his position. It was obvious he was nervous as his eyes kept darting back and forth and sweat ran down his face.

"Captain! They are acquiring a lock as we speak? What should we do?" asked the weapons officer, but the Captain just raised his hand to stop the officer from talking.

"Do not send power to the weapons, all power is to be on the engines and shields. I don't want this to go sour due to them misinterpreting us, so continue to broadcast the message and establish contact with their Admiral." Stated the Captain as his crew nodded.

"Sir they have us surrounded, but they haven't fired upon us yet. I have em! They are establishing a connection to our ship now!" stated the comms officer as the captain smiled.

"Put em on the big screen!" ordered the captain as a large screen turned on to reveal four Qaurians all sitting at something along the lines of a podium.

"USF ship you are ordered to leave this system now or risk being fired upon! We do not wish to be associated with your people this close to Terminus Space." Stated a male Quarian who seemed to hold the most power at a time like this.

'This must be Admiral Han'Gerrel, he is exactly as I pictured him.' Thought the captain with a small smirk. "It is not our intentions to put your people at risk Admirals. The USF only wishes to secure peace for all people in the galaxy in the name of the Mantel. All that I ask is that you just talk to my superiors so that you can at least listen to what we have to say, you may like what you hear."

"I seriously doubt that! You USF may know a lot about us, but don't believe you are the only ones able to learn of the other species. We know how you rely upon the use of A.I.s to command you ships, how do we know that they will not turn on your orders and attack us if we allow you talk to us?" asked another male Quarian wearing a purple suit.

"Admiral Rael'Zorah has a point…we cannot in good conscious trust the A.I.s that you use. Our people have already suffered too much." Stated the only female admiral Shala'Raan added in.

"Don't be hasty now Admirals, perhaps it would be prudent to at least here what they have to say!" the last admiral Zaal'Koris stated what he believed was the right course of action.

"Are you mad? We have no idea what their intentions are!" yelled Gerrel angrily as Koris merely crossed his arms.

"There is no need for this violence Admirals, I have been instructed to let you see a few of the benefits the USF is going to allow to your people. One those happens to be a functional Slipspace engine for you use and experiment on if your people would like. Second, is a membership to the USF, but that is completely mandatory and will not be forced onto your people if you accept." Stated the captain as the four admirals began to debate among themselves.

The Captain knew that they would now at least hear his superiors out now. The chance of receiving a working slipspace engine was too good to pass up for a space faring people like the Quarians. However, the option to join the USF would surely get their attention too.

It took 15 minutes for the Quarian Admirals to finally respond to the Captain. Like he predicted they had agreed to allow the 235th Battlegroup to come in, but with strict orders to keep a safe distance away from the fleet. All the negotiations would take place on a Quarian ship designated for diplomatic missions.

"The Ambassador has agreed to all of your terms, now to make things clear the ambassador is a Sangheili so do not be intimidated by his appearance." Stated the Captain as the Quarian Shala'Raan nodded.

"We have already prepared for something along these lines…are there anything else we should know? Now to be clear we will not allow any A.I. onto our ships." Stated the Admiral as the Captain nodded.

"Yes, we had a feeling you would say that so we made it a point to turn all of them off for the time being. Okay my men are sending a message to the 235th Battlegroup now, they will be here momentarily." Stated the Captain as a large slipspace portal opened in the blackness of space.

From the portal shot out a 6 Frigates, 2 Cruisers, and a Reach Class Battleship. A small fleet compared to what the Quarians were fielding, but what the UNSC lacked in numbers was easily made up in quality and size. The Cruisers and the Battleship dwarfed everything the Quarians could field and while the Quarian ships looked as if they were falling apart, while the few UNSC ships were all dressed to kill with the best armor and weapons known to the Universe.

The small Battle Group took up positions around the small stealth Cruiser as the Quarian admirals could only stare in awe at the ships. "We await your ship Admirals." Stated the Captain as the broadcast was shut off.

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"Did you see their ships? They were massive and not even an ounce of element zero was detected on board! This may be our chance to finally retake Rannoch and eliminate the Geth!" exclaimed Rael'Zorah in excitement. He now finally had the chance to fulfill his promise to his daughter.

"Don't be hasty! These UNSC prove that it isn't impossible to coexist with the Geth! Maybe they can help us establish communication with the Geth again and negotiate a peace with them! Besides they may see your plan for the Geth to be genocide!" exclaimed Koris in horror at what Rael'Zorah was proposing.

"Koris is right, we can't be too hasty on this…even though I loathe to admit it. The UNSC proves that we can live with A.I.s in peace…maybe we should try to negotiate with them again." Added Shala'Raan to both Gerrel and Rael'Zorah's surprise.

"I can't believe I am hearing this! The Geth took our world and nearly killed our whole race in that damn war!" shouted Gerrel in anger.

"In a war that we started in order to kill every single one of them! What would you have done? You would've fought to preserve your life right? You forget that the Geth could've finished us, but decided not to…to this day we still don't know why! Maybe they didn't want to kill so many of us." Explained Koris as Gerrel scoffed, but Rael'Zorah had a thoughtful pose.

"We will discuss this later…for now let's get back to the meeting. Who will we send as our bodyguards and advisors?" stated Raan, getting them all back on schedule.

"I am bringing a marine by the name of Kal'Reeger. He is the exact personification of a Migrant Marine…hopefully he and his men will show that we can be useful fighters." Stated Gerrel as every admiral nodded.

"I would like to bring Tali as an advisor for us." Stated Rael'Zorah silently.

"What? She is far too young and naïve for something as important as this!" shouted Shala'Raan in surprise.

"I have already thought this through…she is scheduled to begin her pilgrimage soon, but why does it have to be in Council space? She can help us in showing these new people that our image in Council Space is incorrect and who knows what she can bring back!" argued Rael as both Kori and Gerrel nodded in agreement.

"That has plenty of merit to it…very well I will send for Tali this instant. Who knows she may replace you one day Rael if things continue the way they are." Joked Gerrel as every admiral chuckled at that.

"Get the shuttle ready, we have to make our way to the Yabba now." Stated the admirals as they stood up and left the bridge to make their way to the Yabba, the ship where the negotiations would take place.

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Tali'Zorah was having a very weird day. Sure it had started out normal enough, but now with the Migrant Fleet having taken evasive maneuvers when a USF ship was spotted. Next thing she knew she was to make her way to the Yabba with everything she was to bring on her pilgrimage.

"Tali'Zorah nar Neema reporting to the Yabba at Raal'Zorah's request." Stated Tali to a Quarian in a green environmental suit.

"Welcome to the Yabba, Tali'Zorah. The Admiralty Board is waiting for as we speak, they seem to be quite tense. Although, I'm not surprised considering the ships that the USF brought along for this meeting, one ship alone looks like it could take the fleet. Then they have warriors that can even put a Krogan to shame in battle, if things get dicey the fleet could be in a lot of trouble." Stated what Tali figured to be head of security on the Diplomatic Ship.

"Really? Even the Batarians have never attacked our fleet in force due the size of it. What makes these USF ships so different?" asked Tali innocently, but the Marine just chuckled.

"Come look out this window then…we aren't too far from their ships so now you can get a good look." Stated the Marine as he gestured to a window and was utterly surprised by what she could see.

The ships, in her opinion, were beautiful despite being robust and boxy they shined like a beacon in space with their boxy robust design that showed that they were made for combat in the most hazardous of wars. The one that had most of their attention though was the largest ship, it was larger than even the life ships of the Migrant Fleet and the other ships were all larger than the standard cruiser.

"They don't even use Ezio…I have no idea how they can run a ship that size without it, but I sure would like to find out! I did see a smaller ship earlier come into the system from some sort of portal, must've been one of their slipspace portals." Stated the Marine as Tali soaked all of this information in.

Sure she had heard all of this before as the Codex was filling up with as much information as it could on the USF and its species. However, there was much that people didn't know about these new races and the Quarians were in a position to learn more than any other.

"Well best not to keep the Admirals waiting!" stated the Marine as he gestured for Tali to follow him once more. It wasn't long before they were in the delegation room where the Admiralty Board was currently waiting.

"Tali! It is good to see you again Child!" exclaimed Shala'Raan as she embraced Tali in loving hug.

"You too Auntie Raan!" exclaimed Tali to her surrogate mother figure. Her father was to her Aunt's side with his arms crossed. "Father…is there a reason why I have been selected to be here today?"

"Yes Tali there is…now as you know the USF has requested a meeting for us to discuss future interactions between our people. Now we have no idea what they are planning on discussing, but what we have learned is that we may possibly be allowed a seat in the USF. However, the biggest thing we have learned is that if we accept their terms they will give us a fully functional slipspace drive." Stated her father as Tali stood flabbergasted at this piece of news.

"But what does this have to do with me?" asked Tali as Rael sighed in either annoyance or regret.

"You are to begin your pilgrimage in a few weeks, and as my daughter we can trust you to do what is right for the Fleet. So unless things turn hostile, you will be acting as a representative of us by being the first Quarian to have a pilgrimage in USF space." Stated Shala'Raan as Tali was shocked by that bombshell of information.

"But..." started Tali, but Shala'Raan interrupted her.

"It's okay Tali, we know it will be scary and there may not even be a chance they will accept. We have never dealt with these species before and therefore nothing may come from any of this. But think of the possibilities? Who knows what you could bring back to the fleet?" said Shala'Raan in awe at the possibilities.

"Your right…who knows this is a new journey for us. Maybe we could actually have some friends in the galaxy for once." Added Zaal'Koris in excitement as a detachment of marines entered the room.

"Admirals! The UNSC has two dropships docking in the hanger bay this very moment. I have marines already on standby, but I believe it would be more prudent if you were in attendance…not that it is my decision." Stated a marine professionally in a deep tone.

"Thank you Kal'Reeger! We will follow you this very instant." Stated Admiral Gerrel as the Admirals all stood up with Tali following their example.

They arrived at the hanger just as the two large dropships landed. As they landed the hanger sealed and began to decontaminate all bacteria and germs on the ships themselves.

Then the dropships ramps flew down opening the dropships cargo bay. Out of each came a contingent of men and women armed in some sort of green armor that covered only their most vital areas. Next followed 4 large figures in intimidating armor and large weapons carried on their backs. They easily stood as big as a Krogan and were even more intimidating with their helmets on.

Then came what could only be the leaders of the Human delegation brought on board of the ship. The one leading was dressed in a white ceremonial uniform decorated with a number of pins and ribbons. He looked young, or at least what the Quarians thought was young as his skin was smooth and his hair was dark brown.

He saw the Quarians looking at him and his troops through the window and smiled at them as the decontamination process began. Immediately though the four large robot looking guards brought their guns up to bear in alarm, but the leader of delegation immediately calmed them down before any harm could be done.

Soon the decontamination process was through and the USF delegation was allowed to exit the hanger bay. "Welcome to the Migrant Fleet! May this meeting bring prosperity between both our races!" stated Shala'Raan in a pleasant tone.

"Thank you for the hospitality of meeting with us in such a short amount of time! I am Rear Admiral Spruce of the USF 31st Fleet and may I say it is an honor to be brought aboard your ship. It sure is a beauty, isn't men? Well let's get this meeting under way, I'm sure you will love to hear what we have to say." Responded the Admiral merrily as the marines smirked at the Admirals energy.

The Quarians themselves were put off guard by how energetic this admiral seemed compared to what they were expecting. They had expected a rough grizzly sort of man from a species able to take on the Council and still win. This man had completely caught them all off guard…just like the USF had planned.

"Yes I'm sure we will, I am Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Kwib Kwib leader of Civilian Fleet." Introduced Koris as he lead the delegation to the negotiation room. Little did he know that a few of the marines were chuckling at his name.

"Kwib Kwib?" asked Rear Admiral Spruce in surprise at such a weird name.

"That's a story for another time." Stated another admiral interrupting Koris before he could go on his story. "I am Admiral Han'Gerrel of the Heavy Fleet and the primary arm of our defense."

"How about the rest of you? It would be nice to know your names so I do not look like a total fool in the future." Stated Spruce as the remaining Admirals introduced themselves.

"And what of you?" asked Spruce as he looked at the clearly nervous Tali'Zorah.

"What? Me?" she asked as she began to wring her hands together.

"She is my daughter Tali'Zorah, she will be sitting in on this meeting to prepare her for the future." Stated Raal'Zorah coming to his daughters rescue.

"Interesting I wasn't aware that your admiralty board was based upon who your parents were." Stated Spruce in slight concern.

"Don't worry Admiral. Each Admiral must prove themselves before they can be nominated in our race. Tali here is perhaps one of the greatest minds our people have ever have. When she was four she created small drone capable of entering FTL with just a few scraps and a small amount of Eezio." Stated Shala'Raan, coming to Tali's defence.

"Wow is that true?" asked the Admiral to Tali, who could only nod due to how nervous she was. It wasn't just the stare of the Admiral that was making her nervous though, it was also the hulking being that was walking right beside her in white armor and dark blue designs on it.

"Impressive. I wonder what you'd be able to do with a slipspace engine." Stated the large being from beside her in a deep voice making her jump in surprise.

"Indeed she would Commander! I'm actually quite interested to see what one such as yourself is capable of!" exclaimed Admiral Spruce as the Quarian Admiralty board was smiling under their helmets.

Soon both parties were seated at a large circular table with their guards all standing at the ready just incase negotiations went sour. "I'm not going to sugarcoat these negotiations Admirals. I will lay out what we would like from you and then I will tell you what we plan to offer to you in exchange. Then you can debate any fine details when I am through." Stated Spruce as the Admiralty board nodded.

"That is acceptable…what would you like from our people?" asked Han'Gerrel.

"I request on behalf of the USF and all it's species that the Quarians remain at least neutral in all further conflicts between the USF and any Council Race. Second, we would like to ask for tactical and scientific advise in concern to the use of Mass Effect technology. Last, any and all information that your species has on the Geth as their creators." Stated Admiral as the Quarians smiled at the fact that the USF had taken an interest in the Geth, hopefully one that would result in the Geth being destroyed.

"We are prepared to offer your species an invitation to the USF as a full race able to take an active role in our government. Before you ask, the USF does not believe the Council was in the right when they turned their backs on your species when you attempted to attempt genocide on the Geth." Said Admiral Spruce before he was interrupted by an angry Admiral Gerrel.

"What! Attempted genocide? The Geth rebelled against us their creators when we attempted to deactivate the Geth to prevent them from becoming AIs! They had no right to resist us in the manner they did!" yelled the Admiral in anger, but it wasn't Admiral Spruce that answered but Admiral Koris.

"And what would you had done if they had been the creators and we had been the created? Would you have fought for your survival Admiral?" asked Korris in anger at the man.

"There's a difference though! We are alive while the Geth aren't!" retorted Admiral Zorah.

"What defines something as being alive?" stated the large soldier that had talked earlier.

"What was that soldier?" asked Gerrel in slight aggravation.

"What do you define as being alive? The human race was once pushed to the brink of extinction not too long ago by those we call our allies now. That war would've resulted in the death of our race if it wasn't for our AI brothers and sisters. More than a thousand times did an AI give it's life to ensure that my race could survive when they could've easily have betrayed us, but not once did they and our people are alive because of them." Stated the soldier in his deep voice, making ever Quarian in the room quiet down at them.

"The Geth rebellion resulted in the deaths of 7.3 Billion Quarians! You would never be able to understand!" argued Gerrel as Spruce suddenly looked extremely angry.

"Our race lost over 30 billion and 543 planets to those that I would now gladly trust with my life. Your people attempted to commit genocide against a race that was only starting to realize what life truly was…what would you have done in their place?" asked the Admiral as all the Quarians in the room suddenly looked ashamed of their actions." Stated the Admiral in a quiet, but fierce voice.

"Your right…" stated the most unlikely person in the room, Tali'Zorah. "We tried to kill them all…so they defended themselves."

"Tali…" warned Admiral Zorah, but Tali just glared at him through her mask.

"No Father! They are right and you know it! If our ancestors had only thought things through than Rannoch could still be our home!" she cried out in anger as the USF personal looked at her sadly.

The soldiers who had fought in the Human/Covenant War knew exactly how she had felt. Many of them had been on earth during the final battle and knew the feeling of loosing one's home.

"We can come to this another time…let's continue, shall we?" offered Shala'Raan as everyone agreed.

"Okay as I said before, as a member of the USF an attack or offense committed against your race is considered an attack against all of us and we will defend you to our fullest capabilities. Now if you accept our admission to the USF then your race will have full access to our technology and any planet that is based upon your DNA structure which is actually quite a few." Stated Admiral Spruce as a few of the Quarians perked up at this information.

"Next our species consist of some of the best genetic therapist in the world. If it would be possible we are willing to assist your species in strengthening your species immune systems to live on said planets. The rest of the details have already been transferred to your Omni-Tools in a detailed data packet." Explained the Admiral as they admirals began to debate amongst themselves.

"We just have three questions before we will conclude this meeting. First, will we be required in fighting in this war at all? Second, what are your plans concerning the Geth. Last, we would like a member of our race to live amongst some of your species to get a feel for what the USF exactly is." Asked Shala'Raan as the Admiral nodded.

"We do not expect your species to fight in this coming war as your people have already been weakened. Last, the plans concerning the Geth actually required us to have one of your people come with us as an ambassador for the Geth as we were going to meet them above Rannoch when we were done here. Is Mrs. Tali'Zorah here the Quarian you were planning on sending, because I believe we can accomadate for her." Stated the Admiral as the Admiralty Board nodded.

"How does that sound to you Mrs. Tali'Zorah?" asked the Admiral as Tali nodded.

"I would like to see our peoples home." Stated Tali.

"Excellent! Pack your things Mrs. Zorah like food and the likes for no species in the USF is Dextro Amino Based! We will be in your system for the next two days, we await your answer before we leave." Stated the Admiral as he began to leave with his guard.

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"How did it go Admiral Spruce?" asked Lord Hood from a Holo Projector.

"I believe that the Quarians will be accepting our offer Lord Hood. The offer is a better deal than what they have ever been accustomed to in the past." Stated Admiral Spruce as Lord Hood smiled. "Sir how are we to make it to Geth Space past all the Council blockades at some of the Major Relays?"

"Do not worry…we have located the location of a major base of operations for the Council. The fleets are already mobilizing and will be attacking before you leave. This should have the council recall all their ships between you and Geth space." Stated Lord Hood as Spruce nodded.

"What of the conquest of Batarian space?" asked Spruce.

"Yes, the Batarians." Snarled Hood. "We have encountered a small fleet of Batarian ships claiming to wish to help us free their citizens from the controlling Batarian government. Through them we have learned that Batarians that favor the slavery polices only make up their core worlds consisting of 20 planets while the rest wish to see the end of the slave trade. Our new strategy is to put this group of people in Charge of their people through isolating the slave planets from the others. As things are the Batarian ruling government will be overthrown in just a few months." Stated Lord Hood as Admiral Spruce nodded.

"Very well Sir! Hopefully the Geth will not be hostile like the Quarians believe." Stated Spruce as Hood nodded.

"Indeed." Ended Hood.

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The 41st Fleet was a smaller fleet consisting of mostly Unngoy and Yanme'e with a few Sangheili troops for leading some of the units, but the Unngoy and Yanme'e were still in charge. This fleet was only in the system due to both species demanding to help fight as they saw it as an honor now to fight alongside Humanity whenever they could.

It was a smaller fleet with only 1 Assault Carrier, 5 Cruisers, 2 Destroyers, 7 Frigates, and 8 Corvettes with most of them being of Unngoy design. They had really changed themselves since the end of the war with becoming mainly engineers instead of fodder like they had used to be.

The Unngoy now manufactured 70% of all ships used by the former Covenant species. Many humans joked that if the Unngoy had been doing something like that during the war then the humans' would've been overrun in just a few days by the never ending supply of ships.

Control of the fleet itself fell under the command of a Unngoy Fleet Admiral, the first of his kind, Admiral Nomnom. He had seen fighting on Installation 00 alongside the Arbiter during the Great Schism and the Invasion of Balaho by the wretched Kig-Yar. During the Invasion of Balaho Nomnom took control of the few ships defending the planet and skillfully directed them to a major victory against a much stronger Kig-Yar fleet, saving the Unngoy Homeworld from glassing.

Now he had been put in command of his largest fleet to date and a large army of Unngoy and Yanme'e to assault a Turian industrial planet on the fringe of their space.

"Fleet Admiral! We are going to be exiting slipspace in one minute!" squeaked out a Unngoy Ultra as we walked up to the Admiral.

"Have all ships charge their weapons and raise shields. I would like to offer them a chance to surrender, but if they refuse I would also like to be ready." Said the Admiral in squeaky, but still deeper than any others voice.

"It will done, Admiral!" answered the Ultra as he waddled off.

"Are the fighters and dropships prepped? I want all drop zones taken as quickly as possible. Scarabs and other heavy weapons will be dropped as soon as they are taken." Ordered the Admiral as a Major nodded and went off to relay said order.

"Exiting slipspace in 5…4…3…2…1…mark!" stated the helmsmen as the ship gave a sudden lurch to exiting the portal.

"Sir! We have dropped right outside the range of their fleet! I'm counting 42 ships in orbit and numerous other defense platforms surrounding the planet and it's surface!" called out the sensors officer.

"Get me communications!" called out Admiral Nomnom.

"They are receiving the message, putting the Turian Admiral on now!" stated the comms officer as a visual of the Turian Admiral appeared on screen.

"Greetings! I am Admiral Nomnom of the USF 41st fleet! Power down all weapons and surrender or I will be forced to lay siege to your planet! If you comply none on the planet who do not resist will not be harmed!" declared the Admiral in the most noble voice he could muster.

"Is this a joke? I was expecting something more than this!" laughed the Turian Admiral in amusement as he looked at Admiral Nomnom. "I have seen Volus more fierce some than you! If you believe you can take my world then try, but prepare to learn why we are the most powerful race in the galaxy!" said the Admiral with a sneer.

"So be it Turian. I offered you a way out…the lives of those lost today will be on your hands! Fire all plasma torpedoes!" yelled Nomnom as every ship in the fleet with plasma yields fired their payloads.

With just the first volley alone 7 of the 42 ship fleet was decimated before Nomnom's eyes. "Do not give them a reprieve! Fire the Hydras and plasma cannons! Launch all scarabs to harass the enemy fleet!"

Lights lit up the space sky as thousands of projectiles lit up the sky as both fleets traded blows with each other. Two Turian cruisers and a dreadnought combined their fire to destroy a frigate under Nomnom's command.

"Concentrate fire on their dreadnoughts!" ordered Nomnom as blue fire lance out of his assault carrier into a dreadnought. The plasma ate away at the hall as more and more ships converged on the ship before it finally lurched and broke in half in a bright explosion.

"Have the corvettes break away from the engagement and concentrate fire on their orbital defenses. Once a hole has been made launch all dropships too clear the landing zones!" ordered the Admiral as his ship shook as a Turian cruiser had run into it as it's engines had been destroyed.

"Fire a torpedo and take out that ship." Said the Admiral as he watched a blue ball of plasma incinerate a Turian Dreadnought that was pounding away at the shields of a destroyer.

"Sir! A hole has been made in the defenses of the planet!" stated the comms officer.

"Have all ships execute a slipspace jump and put us between their fleet and the hole in their grid. Once we have jumped launch all dropships and remaining fighters!" Nomnom ordered as the fleet entered slipspace and reappeared right between the Turian fleet and their planet.

Thousands of dropships and banshees flew from the ships hangers and descended to the planet below as anti air fire rained from the ground below. The corvettes then descended to the planet and began destroy the anti air batteries themselves.

"Admiral! The Turians have reformed and are moving on toward the fleet!" shouted the Sensor operator.

"Fire the Energy Projector! Show them why they should never insult a race of the USF!" ordered Nomnom as the Assault Carrier, From the Ashes, fired it's most deadly weapon.

The beam of energy cut apart a single dreadnought and two cruisers as many more ships opened fire with their plasma weaponry. The Turians could do little as their fleet was systematically decimated from the superior weapons and shields of the Unngoy Fleet.

"Admiral! The enemy fleet is retreating to the relay. Congratulations on your victory." Shouted the comms officer.

"The battle is far from over. Have all frigates and cruisers assist with ground operations while we mop up their orbital defenses. Also send a message to the Arbiter that it is okay to send in troop transports." Ordered the admiral as his men did what was needed.

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On the ground things weren't doing as good as they had been in space, but still better than expected. The Turians on the ground weren't hindered by a very large difference in technology and their training was superb. However, the Unngoy and Yanme'e had come far from what they use to be.

Yanme'e drones kept Turians pinned down as Unngoy advanced upon position and position with plasma rifles and needlers killing all that popped up. Fuel Rod cannons had been used effectively to destroy vehicles and stronger positions as Ghosts and Wraiths decimated the enemy tanks.

However, the biggest advantage lied in the banshee's and scarabs of the USF that had complete air superiority as the dropships and gunships of the Turian forces stood little chance against the Unngoy air units.

More than once stubborn Turian positions had been reduced to rubble due concentrated fire from several phantoms and banshees as the Unngoy and Yanme'e swarmed the position.

Last came the dreaded Scarabs that had been dropped the instant the Turian Fleet had been forced to retreat. Entire battalions of Turians ran in terror as the Scarabs marched along the planets plains supported by banshees and wraiths.

Already the Unngoy could tell the difference between the Turians and Humans in battle. The Turians favored a strict military doctrine and refused to use strategies that seemed unorthodox to the average soldier while the Humans would do something ordinarily seen as stupid, but turned out to be extremely effective.

More than once the Turians had charged a single Scarab hoping to overwhelm them through sheer force. They did not count on reinforcements and air support to eradicate the attack before it had even truly begun.

In only three days the battle had been all but won. The Turians had been utterly humiliated by a species so similar to ones that they had forced into a subservient position in their government. Volus on the planet had been utterly surprised to see the Turians picked apart by the Unngoy, proving that size did not mean anything when it came to war.

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"Congrats on your victory Admiral! The USF is lucky to have men like you in our service." Stated the Arbiter Thel'Vadum as Admiral Nomnom saluted him.

"Thank you Arbiter! I strive to achieve the goals of the USF!" he squeaked out.

"I'm not surprised. A relief force is being sent to the planet as we speak. When they arrive you are to head towards Relay 314 to meet up with a much larger fleet to launch an attack deep into Council Space…hopefully at the Citadel. You will be given command of a new Assault Carrier Class to lead your portion of the fleet." Stated the Arbiter as Nomnom looked shellshocked.

"Thank you Arbiter! You will not be disappointed!" he squeaked as the transmission cut out.

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"The USF is pushing our fleets back one planet at a time! We have already lost contact with the Batarian Homeworld and several Turian and Asari planets have gone dark!" said Valern at Citadel Council Room.

"What do you propose we do then? Leave our planets in danger to launch an assault that may not work at all? No we Asari refuse to have our people die in a futile attempt to push our enemies back!" stated Tevos in contempt for the plan to launch an all out attack on the Humans.

"The same goes for the Turians! I will not leave Turian space open for attack just because the USF is approaching Salarian space. The Turian Hierarchy has it's own needs that is must address first. I'm sorry Valern, but like we have done with the Volus we cannot risk sending fleets to defend planets that are not ours." Stated Sparatus with authority as the Salarian Councilor looked at his two fellow councilors in horror.

"We must stand together or we will fall! Can't either of you see that?" cried out Valern in desperation as he had heard the USF had begun to press into Salarian space while pushing aside every defense the Salarians could put up against them.

"I'm sorry Valern, but an enemy ship was spotted above Thessia just the other day. With Thessia under threat we cannot spare a single ship to help your people." Tevos tried to explain in a weary tone.

"So that's it? You aren't going to help my people?" asked Valern in anger.

"We are sorry Valern, but you would do the exact same thing." Responded Sparatus as Valern glared at him, knowing that it was true.

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That's a cut folks! Sorry it took so long for an update to any of my stories, but I've just been so lazy lately. I've had so many days off and all I feel like doing is sitting in my room and do nothing.

I have good news! I got selected to go to Thailand this summer from May 23rd to June 23rd for the Army CULP program and 2 weeks later I'm going to Airborne School. That's right I'm going to be jumping out of planes!

Hard work does pay off! Trust me!


	5. Chapter 5

Here we are the fifth chapter of Flames of War and I'm happy to know that so many people are appreciating it! Each chapter it seems more and more people are reviewing about how much they like the story so far!

Sorry about the long wait everyone…I've been so busy lately with school, ROTC, and Boxing that I have just had no time to just sit down and write for more than a few minutes a day. I think I need to just hash out another story idea to get into the mood again, but IDK! Someone help me and teach me the Shadow Clone Jutsu!

Due to popular opinion Admiral Nomnom will be featured in later chapters as the main admiral for all Unngoy operations in the war.

Well I'm tired of this introduction already so I'm just going to get right into the final days of the Batarian Hegemony! Will the Batarians turn the tide or collapse beneath the overwhelming firepower of the USF?

Last I have decided on how I will turn Shepard into a Spectre earlier rather than later. With him on the mission to contact the Geth along with his squad and Tali Zorah along for the ride, the ship they are on will be getting a very surprising distress message from a certain planet.

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Four months ago if you had asked, the leaders of the Batarian Hegemony, who was the strongest power in the galaxy, they would've answered without a doubt that it was the Batarian Hegemony.

Despite being under the Citadel Council, the Batarians were a proud race that continued to grow for the day they would seize the galaxy. Unfortunately for them pride was a double edged sword, for as they pushed for more power the chances of cutting themselves increased.

All this came to a head when the Batarians foolishly attacked the USF in a bid to gain power. How were they to know what lied sleeping on the other side of that relay? Now the great empire they had built up was crumbling around them as the colonies on the rims rose up in open revolt and planet after planet fell to either rebellion or conquest.

What remained of the Empire consisted of the inner colonies making up only 13 planets all with in a few light years of eachother. They were the planets that the entire Batarian Hegemony relied upon for equipment, ships, and soldiers and the entirety of the fleet now were regulated to the total defense of these planets.

Thousands of defense platforms hastily constructed orbited the planet and over 1700 ships had been regulated to the defense of the systems being divided up into three large fleets that would converge on the closest battle and eliminate the enemy fleet. What ships that were not part of the fleet were attacking any shipping lane or planet that could perhaps provide resources to the defense of Home systems.

Never had the USF ever assaulted defenses such as these since the days of the Covenant Armadas attacking humanity. However, that changed nothing a new order was coming to the galaxy one of peace and freedom. Too long had the Batarian Hegemony enslaved it's own people and other species for their own gains. Now the time of freedom was at last within sight of the billions of the slaves enslaved in these inner systems.

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"The Fleet of Glorious Freedom…such a beautiful name for such a grand fleet." Stated Lord Hood from the harbors of Reach. "The largest fleet that humanity has ever been a part of…1024 ships of various sizes and classifications."

"Indeed Lord Hood, we shall work our way system by system and punch right through the defenses they have sought so hard to build. It's a shame that so many on both sides will die in this assault." Sighed Thel Vadum as Lord Hood nodded.

"Indeed, but hopefully once our fleet smashes through theirs, the planets will surrender so we don't have to lose good soldiers. Their fleets won't stand a chance…not with a quarter of our ships refitted with the Forerunner weapons and shields taken from the Dawn." Said the Lord as Thel gave the equivalent of a Sangheili smile.

"Such a tiny ship, but it has good memories. That ship represents the struggle of your species and your ability to overcome all that stands in your way. I'm happy to know that it will be leading the Invasion." Stated Thel as the Lord nodded.

"How does R'tas feel about leading such a fleet?" asked Lord Hood.

"He is honored to be at the head of such an important military operation. 1024 split into 4 battlegroups all with separate Admirals that have proven themselves in the past. Not to mention the thousands of transports that will bring in millions of soldiers…these next few weeks will be hell on those that we send to fight." Stated Thel as the old Lord nodded solemnly.

"This will be the knock out blow. With this battle Kar'shan will fall and a new order will be established in the Batarian Systems….what of the Free Batarian Fleets? Are they prepared for their operations?"

"They are just waiting for our fleet to commence the assault upon Kar'shan and then they will attack the major inner colonies with some support from our fleet."

"Good…hopefully this war ends soon enough."

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Tali stared hard out the viewport of the so-called Cruiser she was currently residing upon. They had exited the system that the Migrant Fleet currently resided at and was making it's way to the relays that would take them to Geth space…a 28 hour trip by traditional means. However, the Slipspace drives of the humans and their allies were much more advanced than she could've ever predicted.

Despite knowing next to nothing on the elements of the drive she had been given some rudimentary data on the devices and had spent the first 3 hours familiarizing herself with the basic physics. The data thrilled her as she began to memorize every piece of information that she could in a flurry of excitement.

That was what brought her to the one of the viewing ports of the ship she was on. It was called the Sparta, named after an ancient city on their home planet that was known for their great warriors called Spartans…the namesakes of the massive armored men that were the elite of the human militaries.

The squad was a relatively young squad when it came to Spartans with the Commander only being 35 with service dating back to the end of the Great War as they called it. The others were younger enlisted men that signed up for the program only a few years ago. Normally 35 was considered old for a human, but gene therapy and nanites had extended the normal human life to around 250 years with Spartans rumored to be able to live 500 years. The nanites also ensured that the human body maintained a very youthful appearance.

Back to why she was at the viewing port, she was there to see what Slipspace looked like outside in real life. The vast white space stretched on for an eternity as blue arcs of energy whipped by the ship.

"Impressive isn't it?" came a deep voice from behind her, causing her to yelp and spin around in surprise to see the one Spartan only known as the Commander standing there in his white and blue armor. This time though his helmet was off and being held in his arm revealing a rugged looking face with bright blue kind looking eyes, and a shaved head. "Slipspace is the marvel that shot my people into the stars and yet we understand so little of it compared to the Forerunners."

"The Forerunners?" asked Tali as she stared at the large man who just gave her a small smile in reply.

"It's not really classified anymore, but the Forerunners are the ones who left behind the tools for the human race to grow and expand. They lived 100,000 years ago, but were wiped out by a great infection…however, they ensured that every race around today had a chance to survive." Explained the Spartan as Tali looked at him in bewilderment.

"Maybe they are related to the Protheans?" Tali questioned curiously as the Spartan merely arched his eyebrows questioningly.

"Protheans? Never heard of them…mind telling me?" asked the Spartan as Tali laughed a bit at that.

"Now I finally know something that you humans don't know about!" laughed Tali as the tall Spartan just smiled. "Well the Protheans were a race that we base all of our technology off of and they were the ones who gave us the Mass Relays! Galactic Civilization wouldn't exist with out them. We do not know why, but they vanished 50,000 years ago at the height of their civilization." Explained Tali as the Spartan nodded his head in understanding.

"Completely basing your technology off another races? It seems weird…we had already had most of our technology already by the time we learned of the Forerunners. We only learned of them at the end of the Great War." Explained the Spartan as Tali nodded her head in understanding as she thought of the disadvantages of basing all technology on another races own.

After a few minutes of them just looking out the viewports Tali decided to ask a question that had been on her mind for awhile now. "How did you forgive them?"

"I don't know and many of us still have not. I fought during the end of the war and saw a few planets glassed in person. However, during the last battle in the defense of the planet I was born the Sangheili learned of the lies of their leaders and fought to save my species from destruction. I fought alongside them after a 35 years of fighting against them and I don't know how, but I forgave them. Now my species is stronger than ever just because we were able to let go of the past and look to future…for you there are two sides of every story. You must be willing broaden your mind before you act irrationally." Stated the Spartan as Tali just lowered her head and began to think.

"You want me to do the same with the Geth?" she asked after a few minutes as he nodded in reply. "I don't know if I can…there are only 13 million of my people left because of them. However, I know that it was our own fault for what happened but it doesn't make it any easier."

"Look at it this way…we forgave the Covenant Species in less than a tenth of the time that your species would. Give it a chance and things will work out. Synthetics are just like us in more ways than you would believe." Stated the Spartan.

Suddenly a red holographic screen shot out of his chest displaying the Captain of the ship they were currently stationed aboard. "**All men to battlestations! This is no drill we have received a distress call declaring Batarian Slavers in a system close to us. All Spartans come to the bridge for briefing." **Stated the Captain.

"On my way Captain Anderson." Stated the Spartan as he put his helmet on revealing a midnight black facemask. "I'm afraid we will have to call this meeting to an end Ms. Tali'Zorah." He stated as he began to walk away.

"Wait!" Tali yelled out just before he had left the room. He turned around and looked her for a few seconds as she struggled to stare back at him. "What is your name?" she finally asked.

"Shepard…John Shepard." He stated after a few moments. Then he was gone leaving Tali all by herself to stare out into the void of slipspace.

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"Captain!" Shepard saluted as he joined his fellow Spartans on the bridge of the Sparta. "What do you have for my team?"

Captain Anderson was a large black man who had seen combat since the early days of the Great War where it is said that he fought in over 1000 full engagements with the Covenant. Near the end of the war he was transferred to commanding a frigate in the Battle of Earth. Since then he has risen in status and many respect his word as if he were already an Admiral, which many predicted wasn't too far away for the grizzled war veteran.

He had been put in charge of the mission to contact the Geth when Admiral Spruce stayed behind to hash out the ending agreements with the Quarians. When questioned why he was put in charge the Admiral just smiled and laughed at how Anderson always had the best jokes.

Anderson looked at the four Spartans with a small frown on his face as he typed something into his tac-pad causing a video to appear on the HoloScreen of every Spartan's Armor.

The Spartans watched the video until it was over and soon were staring at the Captain. "Sir…what does this have to do with ourselves?" asked Shepard as the Captain sighed.

"Spartans…this war should not be happening. We should not blame this council for what these Batarians have done for us. Now I have been given full status as an USF diplomat on this mission. If we save this colony then perhaps we can help end a war that is causing the deaths of countless beings everywhere." Explained Anderson as the Spartans all nodded.

"What kind of enemies are we expecting?" asked one of the Spartans wearing heavy armor that was orange with Black Trim.

"The slavers have a only 5 war ships in orbit with 2 cruisers and 3 frigates. Now the ships we have in our small battlegroup should be more than enough to clear out the skies. However, hundreds of slaver have already landed planet side and are approaching the main settlement now. We will land troops outside the main settlement and stop them from taking the colony. If you object to this plan just tell me." Stated Anderson as none of the Spartans made a move to show disapproval.

"Very well…we will arrive in the system in 15 minutes. I wan all units ready for orbital insertion and landings. Get to your post Spartans…you are going in first." Stated Anderson as the Spartans saluted and left the Command Room.

"Captain…what is the planet we will be saving?" asked Shepard before he left.

"A colony planet consisting of multiple species known as Elysium." Answered Anderson as Shepard felt a chill run up his spine.

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"The enemy ships have all been destroyed and none of our ships have experienced any losses." Stated a young man at the comms station of the Sparta.

"Good, put us over the colony and begin preparations to send our men in and try to contact the colony to ensure the ones we are trying to protect don't try and kill us." Stated Captain Anderson as his helmsmen moved the ship into position and the comms officer tried to reach the colony.

"Sir, they have received the message but they have not answered to our message. Do you wish to procede with the operation?" asked the comms officer as Anderson nodded.

"I will not sit idly by as millions are captured to be used as slaves or killed by the Batarians." Stated Anderson as the whole crew nodded. Tali, who was observing the operation on the bridge couldn't help, but love this race even more after seeing how far they would go just to defend the innocent. "Once we are in position…drop the Spartans to secure a landing zone."

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"Green Light! Spartans Drop!" yelled the Deck officer as the pods containing the Spartans, known as Haven Team down to the surface on the outskirts of the main settlement, where the few colonial militia were preparing a defence.

"This is Haven-1 we have just began our drop! Entering atmosphere in 3…2…1…mark!" stated Shepard through the comms as his team all sounded off.

"This is Haven-2 sounding in!" replied the large Orange Spartan in a deep voice.

"This is Haven-3 sounding off." Replied the cool voice of a Spartan in all black armor with a blood red visor covering his face.

"WOHOOO THIS HAVEN-4 SIGNING IN COMMANDER! READY TO KICK SOME SLAVER ASS!" yelled the last Spartan, wearing yellow armor with black tiger stripes running along his armor. The rest of the team sighed in annoyance at having this one on their team again.

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"Matirarch! We have reports that the slaver fleet has been destroyed in orbit." Stated a Turian wielding a sniper rifle stated as he approached an older looking Asari on the planet of Elysium.

"So the council was able to get help to us after all?" she questioned as the Turian gave a nervous chuckle.

"Not exactly Matriarch…command has stated that the ships were destroyed by profiles matching those of the Human Race. Command has received a message saying they are here to help, but the are skeptical considering they only have 3 vessels, while the Batarians have landed close to 40 freighters on the planet." Stated the Turian as the Matriarch gave a tiny chuckle.

"It would appear that these Humans are more honorable than I believed." Stated the Matriarch as a loud sonic boom pierced through the atmosphere, spooking many of the militia on the ground.

They watched in awe as 4 pods came from the sky and impacted into the ground causing small craters in their wake. A few of the braver men approached the pods and were surprised to see large humanoid figures exit the pods and climb out facing their lines.

"This is the Matriarch…all forces stand down. We need all the forces we can have in the coming battle." Stated the Matriarch as her forces reluctantly lowered their weapons as the hulking armored beings approached her.

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The night sky was ablaze with activity as satellites and ships patrolled constantly, all on alert for the offensive that was sure to take place. Cruel times were upon the people of the Inner Colonies as their space slowly constricted around them. They had been cut off from supplies and food as the USF marched through anything that stood before them.

However, despite all that the Batarian Military was still a fearsome opponent with over 1700 ships able to deploy at a moments notice to any of the colonies to defend them. Not to mention the thousands of orbital installations adding their guns to any battle that may take place in those very systems. One would have to be mad to attempt any attack against Kar'shan or those inner worlds. Too bad the USF was known to be quite mad.

Over Kar'shan close to 1100 ships of the USF jumped directly into the system just out of range of the planets orbital defenses. The Batarian Fleets immediately sent messages to others fleets and took positions just behind the planets defenses and waited for the massive ships of the USF to make their move.

Vanguarding the USF fleet was the Super Carrier Majestic Unity housing Rtas'Vadum, leader of the greatest fleet ever fielded by the USF in battle. "Enemy fleet is holding position just behind their orbital batteries…orders Fleet Master?" asked a young Sangheili Minor.

"Put me on the fleet wide comm system. There are things I must say to our men before the battle begins." Stated Rtas as the Minor nodded and patched him into the system. "Men…today is a glorious day for the USF! Years ago we were at war killing each other due to the lies of the Prophets…if you had told me that humans were decent folk 25 years ago I would've split you in half at the end of my sword. However, now I know that is wrong…humanity has allowed the beings of the New Covenant grow in ways I could've never imagined and now I'm proud to call them my brothers among the stars! Together our species can achieve so much more than we could've ever have achieved alone and today we shall free these Batarians from the lies of their government…we shall free the countless number of slaves who were taken from their homes to work in the most hazardous of conditions! Today we prove that the mantel of responsibility lies solely within the hands of the USF! NOW COME WITH ME MY BROTHERS AND THE STRENGTH OF OUR ETERNAL BROTHERSHIP!" exclaimed Rtas as nearly every being aboard the massive fleet yelled out in courage and pride.

"Helmsmen…Once more into the Breach!" commanded Rtas as 200 Corvettes, 450, Frigates, 150 Destroyers, 150 Cruisers, 50 Battle Cruisers, 25 Carriers, 20 Battleships, 10 Assault Carriers, 6 Super Carriers, and 3 Infinity Super Battleships all began to advance towards the Batarian lines.

"Fleetmaster we have two smaller Batarian fleets have jumped into the system and are approaching our flanks! Enemy fleet strength is at 1400!" cried out a Major as Rtas gave the Sangheili equivalent of a smile.

"Then perhaps they will put up a good fight afterall! Divert Battlegroups 7 and 8 to deal with each of our flanks respectively. The rest of the fleet will proceed to approach Kar'shan and engage the bulk of the Batarian fleet.

As soon as the two fleets had entered desired range they opened fire on the other with an impressive show of force. Thousands of kinetic weaponry ripped through space smashing into barriers and shields. Plasma beams and torpedoes melted through armor with devastating effect, fighters streaked into the battlefield unloading their payloads and swarming enemy ships, and Hard Light batteries pounded away at the Batarian fleet. From a onlookers perspective one could perhaps even call the battle a beautiful sight to behold. For the fighters manning the ships of both fleets there was only one word to describe it…and it was hell.

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NYAH Cliffhanger buddies! Sorry I just don't have it in me to keep you guys waiting any longer for this chapter to come out so I'm just going to post what I have now. I hope you all like it and I'm so sorry for the long wait and the short chapter. I'm hoping that I can make it up to you next chapter!

Yeah! So just to remind you of why I am busy, I have been studying for School and the ARMY SIFT Test so I can go fly Helicopters in the Military. Also I have been doing a crap tonne of paperwork to go to Thailand and Airborne School this summer. And last I have been doing boxing this semester, which is really fun by the way! Last I got two new games that I have been playing lately!

Future Story IDEA! If any of you want it, you can try and make it! Keep in mind that I am still planning on writing this story!

1. The Krogans were betrayed by the Council at the end of the Rachni Wars while they were trying to stabilize their population. However, the council made this all but impossible so to save their race they declared war on the Council. During the war a small fleet of Krogan Warships ends up in Sol System to find a Humanity who has just started to harness Element Zero. During the First Contact Scenario the Turians show up and attack Earth so the Krogans and Humans destroy their fleet. Knowing the Turians will be back the Humans and Krogans prepare themselves for the inevitable and when they are told that the Turians will turn them into a client race if they lose, humanity vows to fight and never give up…sealing their fate to the cosmos. The Turians show up in force and decimate Humanity and the Krogan fleet, before all is lost a lone Krogan Frigate is able to escape, taking the knowledge of the human race and their bravery to the rest of the Krogan. The aftermath of the battle leaves the Earth in ruins and Humanity believed to be extinct. However, when the Turians escape the Mass Driver is destroyed on both sides as a last final act against the Turians and special vaults known as Crypts begin to terraform Earth to make it habitable again…only 10 Million Humans are alive in the Crypts being looked after by the earliest models of AIs. 1200 years later the galaxy has not changed much as Corruption and Greed are stronger than ever…the Quarians are without a home, the Krogan have lost their sense as a people, and the Geth are sorely misunderstood. However, that is all about to change for the seeds of revenge have grown into a powerful forest ready to expand outward.

ADD MEEEEE If you ever want to play some games lol just send me a message!

PSN NAME- ICHeart

XBOX NAME- ICHeartless


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